Percy POV
In order to blend in with the terrorist soldiers, Annabeth and I had to help load the bombs into the cargo plane.
It felt disgusting, but it was necessary to stay undercover.
I watched as Annabeth hoisted another nuc box into her arms and walk towards the plane. Three of us were unloading the bombs from the truck while the other three soldiers were carrying the boxes into the plane.
We were working quickly because the cargo plane was ready to go.
It was only a matter of time till my team and the Greek police showed up here to stop the transport of the bombs.
However, the bombs had to be transported to find WiCKeD's and BlodgeHarm's main rally point where the Apocalypse bombs were going to dispersed. We had to find Kronos and Krios to stop them from initiating the dispersal of all of the bombs.
I hoisted another crate and handed it to a soldier on the ground.
Annabeth started walking over. She was unrecognizable, but I could see her blonde hair. I took another box and handed it to her.
Her hand lingered against mine as she paused.
"Seaweed Brain, they're here," Annabeth whispered as her eyes narrowed to a scene behind me. I turned around to witness a bunch of police and agents driving onto the runway.
The gunshots started immediately.
A BlodgeHarm soldier next to me got shot in the head and fell out of the truck. I immediately ducked along the side of the truck. Annabeth was crouched behind the truck, but she quickly ran towards the plane.
I had to get in the plane, which had its engines roaring.
The whole atmosphere was too loud due to the plane's engine and the gunshots.
I stood up to get a better visual before quickly ducking down. There were too many of them firing. The other terrorist soldiers were shooting back, but I wasn't.
Suddenly, there was a loud creak.
My head whipped around to see that the plane was starting to move. They were taking off, and the cargo hatch was starting to close as well.
"Percy," Annabeth shouted from the inside. Dam.
I ran towards the plane that was driving away. Another soldier was also running towards the plane, but he got shot down.
"Wise Girl," I screamed as I dived forward.
Annabeth picked up a thick, brown rope and tossed it from the plane. Her other arm was wrapped around a pole on the inside of the plane.
My hand caught the end of the rope. However, the plane was going too fast now, and I lost my balance. I was being dragged by the fast-moving plane.
Annabeth yelped out as she fell on the floor next to the cargo door. It was closing too quickly, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it.
My abdomen and chest burned from the friction of being dragged against the ground. I screamed out in pain as my hands tightened around the rope. Annabeth was trying to hold on to me via the rope, but I could tell that her arms were being stretched.
There was too much stress and strain for both of us.
"Seaweed Brain," she shouted. "You can't make this."
The cargo door was also almost closed. If it went down another three feet, the distance between me and Annabeth would be sealed.
I shouted in pain at the brush burn against my chest. I couldn't do it.
Being dragged like a rag doll via a rope was not fun. However, I didn't want to let go. I didn't want to leave Annabeth.
"Percy, you're getting hurt," Annabeth shouted at me.
The plane creaked as the legs of the flight extended upwards. They'd take off soon, and they'd leave me behind. Or, I'd be hanging in the sky.
"Wise Girl, I'm not leaving you," I shouted with determination.
My hand tightened around the rope so that I wouldn't lose my grip. My chest and abdomen were burning. The speed was too much for my padded vest, which had shredded down. Gunshots were still firing around me, but the noise drowned out.
I groaned as I looked up at Annabeth again. Tears escaped my burning eyes.
"Come find me," Annabeth shouted.
"No, NO, Annabeth, don't you dare," I shouted as my eyes locked onto hers. She was practically laying on the floor of the plane because the cargo door was almost closed.
"I'm sorry, Percy. Come find me," Annabeth exclaimed again.
Suddenly, Annabeth let go of the rope.
The effect was immediate. I went rolling on asphalt from the sudden momentum. My body screamed out in pain as I came to a stop.
Annabeth had disappeared on the plane because the door had closed.
I quickly got to my feet, but my legs crumbled before I could run after the plane again. All of that happened in a few seconds, but it felt like so long.
Come find me. Ugh, I hated those words.
Now, I understood how bad and painful those words were. I didn't want to find her because I always wanted to be with her.
I laid on the floor in sadness as I watched the terrorist plane and my Wise Gril fly away. My fists pounded on the floor as I cried and groaned from the physical and emotional pain.
Sirens whistled around me as my senses came back.
I was immediately hoisted up and smashed against a van. The Greek policeman was strong as he held me down at gunpoint.
"Stop, it's me. Agent Percy Jackson from Lake Valor USA," I identified.
"You're a terrorist," he shrieked. he pressed the barrel of his gun sharply against my head. Everything hurt as I coughed out blood.
My chest and abdomen were burning and bleeding.
My entire body was dragged by the rope, but the sole friction points against the ground were my chest, stomach, and thighs. My padded vest, two shirts, and pants were crumbled and my skin was brushed and burned deeply.
"Stop, I'm Percy Jackson," I said as I removed my mask.
"Officer, please unhand my agent," Chiron exclaimed as he got out of a black van. Gods, it felt so good to see my teacher again.
Jason and Thalia sprinted towards me and caught me before I fell over.
"Oh gods, Percy, are you okay?" Jason asked.
Thalia shook her head and blinked away tears as she held me up. However, my vision was clouding as Annabeth took over my mind. Jason and Thalia were firmly holding me up.
Regardless of their help, darkness consumed me.
...
I woke up suddenly and immediately sat up, but that was a huge mistake. Pain exploded in my abdomen, and I fell back onto the bed.
The bedroom was small and fairly empty. My legs were hanging over the twin-sized bed. The only other piece of furniture was the desk in the corner next to the window.
I looked down to see that my chest and abdomen were wrapped by a bandage. The bandage traveled from mid-chest to lower abdomen in order to fully cover my drag burn. I was in boxers, so I noticed that my thighs were also bright red and bruised but not as bad.
Then, there were smaller bruises over the rest of my body.
I sat up gently and rubbed my face. The body was aching, but I had to get up.
I could hear voices from the next room as I slowly got dressed. Simply jeans and a slightly oversized shirt were situated on the desk.
Everyone quietened and turned to me when I entered the main room.
We were in a house, and I had been sleeping in the bedroom downstairs. The rest of the team was discussing things in the living room.
"Percy, it's so good to see you up," Chiron said brightly with a smile.
I nodded as I accepted a bro-hug from Jason. Hazel gestured for the seat next to her, and I happily went over. I knew that I still needed rest.
Everyone was standing and sitting around the center table.
"Annabeth got onto the cargo plane to Kronos's main rally point," I said.
"Yes, we are aware of everything that happened," Agent Frank said.
"Well, did you find her?" I asked sharply. "We need to find her. She's alone walking into a terrorist hell surrounded by monsters."
"Yeah, that sounds familiar," Thalia muttered sternly.
"Don't worry, Percy. We'll find her, but the truth is that we can't find her until she turned on her earpiece again," Leo said.
"So, we just sit here doing nothing," I exclaimed in frustration.
"Percy, calm down. Annabeth is a trained special agent. She's powerful and she knows how to handle her situation. And, Annabeth knows how to adapt," Chiron said.
"Yeah, but we need to help her," Piper said quickly.
I nodded in agreement. Obviously, Piper would be on my side in terms of saving Annabeth. However, I knew that Annabeth was capable of taking care of herself.
Annabeth was her own person. She was intelligent, powerful, and independent.
"We cannot locate her until she beacons us, which she will because she's intelligent and trained," Chiron said firmly before pausing.
"First, Percy, you did amazing in your mission. Your intel was all Oversight needed to crack down this conspiracy. Lake Valor is being reformed as we speak," Chiron continued.
"I don't really feel like celebrating yet," I said.
I started massaging the side of my chest, which stimulated Nico to leave the room. He came back with some medicine (ie pain killers).
"Here, Percy, this will heal you faster and help with the pain," he said quietly.
"Thank you, Nico," I said as I gratefully took the meds.
"I know, Percy. No one's celebrating because the Apocalypse is still happening. This is such a big deal because we saw only a fraction of the bombs, and it was still so much," Beckendorf said.
I lightly smiled as I looked at Beck. I was glad that he was okay. After all, I knew what it was like to be captured and tortured by terrorists like WiCKeD and Blodgeharm.
"Percy, I believe that you know the location of the other rally station," Chiron said.
"Yes, I don't know where Kronos and Krios are. They're at the main rally point that all the bombs are going to first before getting dispersed globally," I said before taking a long breath.
"However, I know the location of the second main bomb supply. It's in Italy," I finished.
Everyone nodded appreciatively.
But, they also knew that we were in a race against time.
"All right, with this intel, we'll completely cut off the bombs from that location. We managed to stop 50% of the bombs from Greece, which is a great hit," Chiron said.
"Yes, and we'll 100% stop the bomb supply from Italy. By then, Annabeth will probably reach out to us," Hazel affirmed.
I agreed with this plan. Plus, this side mission would keep me distracted.
I looked around the room at my friends and colleagues. They all wore determined expressions, and they were all very good at their jobs.
I released a breath as I released some tension.
Annabeth could take care of herself. I had complete faith in her. We would reunite again to destroy WiCKeD and BlodgeHarm once and for all.
Even if Annabeth and I got separated, we'd always find each other again. We might not always be together, but we'd always come back together.
I turned my attention back to Chiron, who was laying out the plan for the next few days.
My team and I were going to kick some terrorist ass in Rome, Italy.