A/N: OH MY GOD! Twenty Chapters! I wrote twenty chapters? I have never done that ever! Also, no flashback in this chapter as well. Trust me the mushy stuff is coming, it's just taking sometime.

Chapter 20

Percy

Present Day

I never understood why I was in the Mafia until now. Sure, it had all the negatives one could imagine. There was always a risk of getting caught and tortured, getting killed and tortured. Of course, there was also the torture you felt when someone you knew was being held captive and well, tortured.

But I never felt tortured. Rather I felt like I belonged. There was finally something that I was good at and it was fleeing the scene as my team looted every ounce of gold and diamonds my enemies owned.

Of course, that was then and things right now were a lot different. For example, I never ran a rescue mission. In the Mafia if anyone in your team got caught, you'd just assume that they were dead.

I couldn't do that. I couldn't just assume that Piper was…

I needed to fight back.

Annabeth told me that this was her former gang's doing, that they had kidnapped Piper because they think that she still has ties to the Jacksons and that she was only marrying her brother Jason to infiltrate their organization so that she could share secrets with the Chase family. Yup, that's the one thing I hated about the Mafia, sometimes they were very thick as if they were behaving dumb on purpose.

Just then I got a call from one of my former associates. I still had contacts in the Mafia just in case I needed their help for something. So, I called Frank one of my really good friends and asked him to arrange some ammunition for Annabeth and I.

There were a few files I had kept on my enemies in case they chose to do something like this. But the Chase's file is the biggest I have, I guess because they have the most reason to want me dead. I started collecting all of these details after I woke up from the hospital, just in case her family sent one of their associates to make sure I stayed dead. Luckily, no one had come my way.

No Chase but one.

Just then I hurt the doorbell ring. I got up from the table and walked towards the main door.

"Are you going to let me in?" she asked.

Have I been standing by my door and gawking at her like a teenager? Maybe. I moved away from the door and let her in.

It was almost evening now. Both of us had taken the entire day to ourselves to gather all the resources we could. She also went over to Jason's apartment to check on him, to make sure he wouldn't do anything irrational.

I never saw that side of her. Previously, when we were going out, the only person I saw her caring about was her father and that man had a billion servants to look after whatever he wanted. The only person she looked after was me. So, it felt a little weird to watch her do the same for Jason.

He was her brother. I understood where all her feelings came from. But we had been dating for about a year and I never saw her do so much for him then. But to be honest, I didn't do so much for Piper back in the day either. So, I guess the feeling might have been mutual.

I watched her remove her backpack and pull out a bunch of files as she walked over and handed them to me.

"This is all I could gather about the Chase operation," she said.

"Okay, I'll add it to my pile" I replied as I offered to take her bag.

"Your pile?"

"Yeah, I might have some information about your family" I said as I looked at her. She looked surprised. I guess I understood why. There was no reason for me to start collecting dirt on her, well apart from the fact that she shot me. But I wasn't looking for revenge. "Um, I had to. Just in case someone came after me to finish what you started"

"Percy I-" she started but I cut her.

"It's okay Annabeth, I totally understand why you shot me, you don't have to say anything" I said.

She took a deep breath before she looked up at me.

"I just… I don't know how you can trust me after I… after I did that" she said.

I put down the files that were in my hands on the coffee table and walked towards her.

"It's all in the past Annabeth, all we can do right now is move forward" I said as I took her hands in my hands.

"It's just… it's stupid. I can't even say it" she said as her eyes avoided mine.

"Say what?" I asked.

"That I… that I, you know" she said as she gestured towards my chest.

"That you shot me?" I asked her as she nodded as she wiped a tear that had escaped her eye. "You know I forgive you right?"

"I… I don't deserve to be forgiven so easily, I almost killed you" she whispered as the tears were freely falling from her eyes.

I gently lifted one of her hands and put it on my chest right on top of my heart.

"Do you feel that? My heart is beating just fine. You didn't kill me Annabeth. I'm very much alive and I'm right here in front of you." I said as I placed my palm on top of her hand.

She looked up at me as she lightly pressed her palm into me. Right then I knew, I knew that she still loved me. That she probably never stopped loving me even after she shot me. Her eyes said it all.

All I wanted to do was to lean down and claim her lips.

Suddenly, Annabeth pulled away from me.

"Where do I… um where do I put my bag?" she asked as she took a couple of steps back almost crashing into the coffee table.

"I'll take it to my bedroom. You can take these files to the kitchen. The rest of the stuff is there" I said as I took her bag and walked towards my bedroom.

Why did things feel so normal and then get so awkward within a heartbeat? Why did it feel like we had travelled back in time and then suddenly time just threw us back?

One moment I think that maybe things could be salvaged between us but then it all just goes down the drain.

I guess I just have to make due with all of this awkward air around us now. I quickly put her bag in my closet and ran back to her in the kitchen.

I watch her pick up a gun from one of the boxes and playfully point it towards the fridge. I smiled as she pretended to shoot the fridge. I'm pretty sure she was aiming at the fridge magnet and if the gun was loaded and if she pulled the trigger, that magnet would definitely have a whole in it.

I decided to make my presence known and tapped on the kitchen door.

Annabeth quickly spun around and pointed the gun at me. Just like she did all those years ago. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I saw the barrel of the gun.

Annabeth looked shocked before she quickly put the gun back on the counter and took a couple of steps away from it as she put her hands up.

"I'm sorry Percy I didn't mean to point it at you" she said as she frowned.

"Don't worry, it's not loaded" I said as I walked further into the kitchen.

Great, things were back to being awkward.

"Here, this is all I have on the Chase crime family" I said as I showed her the files.

She looked surprised, I almost had twice the amount of papers that she had.

"Wow, that's a lot" she said as she took one of the files and flipped it open. "This one's about me"

I looked at the file in her hands. Yes, I did keep a file about her. It felt cathartic before I started feeling pathetic. But I couldn't get rid of the file, it felt like I was getting rid of her. So, I kept it.

"Look at me. God! How old was I twenty, twenty-one? Should I go back to short hair?"

"No!" I yelled. Annabeth looked up at me, god why did I feel so embarrassed. I know she didn't really ask for my opinion but I couldn't help myself. "Umm. I'll get us some wine"

I wish I had something better to say, but I guess the wine will help with that. I watched her as she continued flipping through her file.

"You have some pretty solid information here. I have to say I'm impressed. Name: Annabeth Chase, Job: Chief Strategy Expert and Mission Control, Spouse: Percy Jackson fiancé, deceased. Wait, why deceased?" she asked as she looked up at me.

"Umm… I was technically dead for a minute before they revived me. The people at Chase thought that I was dead so I just played along with the charade"

There it was, that look like she was about to burst into tears. But I was standing right there by her. I guess both of us were going through some serious PTSD.

I saw her taking a deep breath before she closed the folder and picked up another one instead.

And that's what we did for a long time, we went over files together as we polished the Chinese takeout together along with our wine. We cross referenced both the files to find things that were unique in both of them. Details that the other didn't know about locations. Annabeth suggested that that is where we should start. She was the chief strategy expert after all.

It was about eleven pm when I felt my eyes getting heavy, I looked at her for any signs of sleep, but she looked like she had had eighteen cups of espresso.

"Annabeth, let's stop for today," I said as I closed the file in front of me. She looked at her wrist watch before she too closed the file in front of her.

"Yeah, it's getting late" she said and smiled at me "So, what is the sleeping situation, I can take the couch" she said as she got up from her chair.

"What? No way, you can take my bed and I'll take the couch" I offered, there was no way in hell I was letting her sleep on the couch.

"But then your back would be all mangled"

"That's okay, I'll manage"

"You know, we could just sleep together" she suggested "It's not like we haven't done it before right?"

"Yeah, we could. But wouldn't that make things awkward between us?" I asked. Things were awkward as is, I didn't want them to become worse.

"I won't, if you don't" she said as she offered me her hand "Deal?"

"Deal" I said as I shook her hand.

I led Annabeth to my bedroom and showed her to the bathroom as well as my closet where I had put her bag before I stepped out giving her all the privacy she needed.

Things had just started to become somewhat normal between us and I wasn't going to jeopardize it. I busied myself on my phone as I patiently waited for her to do her thing.

After a couple minutes Annabeth opened the door and let me in.

"Do you need me to leave so that you can change?" she asked.

"No that's alright, I'll change in the washroom" I said as I went to the closet to get out an old t-shirt along with some pants.

I usually slept in my boxers because it was very hot here in Florida, but I didn't want to make the situation more awkward than it already was. I turned to leave towards the bathroom before Annabeth interrupted me.

"Umm… what side of the bed do you sleep on?"

"It doesn't matter. Oh right! You like sleeping on the right side. I guess you can have that side" I said as I went to the washroom.

I quickly changed into my pajamas and exited the bathroom. I switched off the bedroom light before I got under the covers. Annabeth had her bedside light on and she faced towards the lamp reading something on her phone.

I was about to turn towards her and elope her in my arms but I stopped myself. These old habits of mine are some day going to get the best of me. So, I turned away from Annabeth and snuggled into the next best thing in the room, my pillow.

A/N: I loved writing this chapter. Did you like reading it?

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