First Gray chapter since the reveal. No more pretending that's she's innocent/docile/helpless!

Supernova Space: Man, it looks like you've hacked into my docs or something. You said you wanted to see Annabeth as Alpha? Here it is! (Seriously though, I plan these things weeks in advance.) The apocalypse will be hopefully revealed to you along with the characters themselves. And Annabeth's more-or-less going to be the main antagonist for a while, so I won't be able to do that many chapters in her PoV. :(
minotaurbane: I'm excited about the post-apocalypse chapters too! There are so many hurricanes to face before that one, though. One of them is coming up hot. Stick around and you'll see!

Gray IV.

Annabeth was a girl of simple tastes. She liked permanence and knowledge and total control. She hated mortal limits and being wrong and people who didn't know that she was better. All very simple demands.

Problem was, the world didn't want to work according to her tastes. So Annabeth had to do it herself.

Fortunately, she already had the resources and power to achieve what she liked, and destroy what she didn't. Almost. Some goals were still out of reach, but those just needed a cyborg body. As such, her life was perfectly on track; her to-do would be over in about two years.

Which was why she loathed people who tried to undo the goals she'd already marked complete. Especially annoying boys who thought she was just another weak sheep to be killed on their way to the top.

Rei had found her when she was on her way to get a Pacifier from Darius. It was supposed to be a short and straightforward trip: a little propaganda here, a bit of snooping there. All in all, nothing out of the ordinary for her.

And ordinary was the correct word… right up until she turned a corner and bam! There was her ex-boss ready to ambush and irritate.

It was clear that Rei's plan of action was to basically make her say that she was not right for the job. He thought he could make her give up the power and hand it to him on a silver platter.

Joke's on you, Rei. I'm better at this than could ever dream of being.

She tuned him out. In a more perfect world, she would've had someone blow his head off. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that: the world wasn't perfect, and there was a violent and female problem called Kira Summer.

Summer was the only one who'd seen through her act. (Annabeth was still perplexed as to how she did it.) She had, thereafter, quite violently, advised Annabeth to not abuse her power. And normally, Annabeth would turn a deaf ear to that; She wasn't one to take orders. But she knew Kira wouldn't hesitate to blow her head off, and so she was wary.

But I have to let the truth out some way. Maybe I can start acting like the power is turning me into a stricter person…

She followed that thought for a while. It was doable. There could be a few complications, but she'd had worse.

They reached Darius' alcove, and Rei abruptly stopped pestering her. "I'll wait for you to finish up," he said.

Annabeth didn't reply, choosing to give him a subtle once-over instead. He was easy to read— anger and envy.

That's new. He was plain old arrogant and all-business before he saw Darius. Do they have some history together…? She scanned through past conversations, but turned up empty-handed. So trial and error it is.

"You should come in," she told him. "I've got a long order. Darius will need to pack it up. We can talk while he does that."

"No, I'll…"

"Come in, Rei."

"…okay," he agreed reluctantly.

Oh, how it hurts you to have to obey me! Annabeth thought in glee. She smiled sweetly and nodded once before entering the room to a curious and foolishly excited Darius.

"The Alpha has come to visit!" Darius exclaimed. "It's either my birthday or April first or the end of the world."

She shook her head at his antics. "How about… none of the above? I've come for a Pacifier—"

"Work draining you?"

"—and five to-go ones."

Darius winced. "Work killing you?"

"More or less, yeah."

He produced a syringe out of thin air. "Here, take this. I'll pack the rest of it." To Rei, he said, "Hey man, what's up?"

"Nothing much," Rei said to his sneakers. "Same old, same old."

"Oh? Tina told me about your workload piling up. That's new."

Rei bristled. "I can handle it."

At once Annabeth knew. Christina (or Tina) was a Kappa Fighter, one of Katherine's friends and Rei's girlfriend. And Darius' ex. Oh, poor male ego…. But seriously Rei, he's older, stronger, more influential. And less of a sexist! You're lucky she even thought of choosing you over him.

She knew Darius was currently with Amber and really wasn't the guy to help someone cheat, but— Insecurities are my Play-Doh.

She quickly drew attention to herself so Rei's anger would bottle up instead of materializing on the Delta. She held out her arm, ready for the Pacifier. "Darius, can you please?"

"Sure."

"And I'll need you to send me at least one Pacifier a day. I'll send a message if I need more than one. This job is hideous on the inside."

Rei turned to her. "That's what I wanted to tell you. Being Alpha is hideous. It's okay if you ask for help and/or let others do the work while you relax. Going by our last few examples, it'll be better if you try less conventional methods. Like maybe play puppet master instead of actually doing the executive work."

Rei for everyone's sake just shut up before you piss me off. I'll have your screams for lunch one way or another, but you seriously need to stop making it worse for all of us. I swear to God if I have to do damage control one more time I will literally have you eat shit.

But even though she was furious on the inside, Annabeth kept her cool. She'd acted far nicer while feeling far worse. "Yeah, I don't think Mr D is gonna pay me for just being a figurehead. That's less work than being a Phi Brain."

"You're not an addict! What do you want privileges for?! You don't—"

Darius interrupted, deadly serious. "I'm gonna ask you to shut up, Rei. If you're going to shout at Annabeth, do it where I can't hear you."

Rei was taken aback, but thankfully he didn't go off. "I wasn't shouting— I'm just... aggravated, that's all."

"You know I love my buildings," she reminded him calmly. Rei's hidden question was obviously: 'What do you want power for, you dumb whore?', but she did not reply to that because a dumb whore like her had no way of knowing that hidden question.

"I can... you just aren't the type of person to thrust so much responsibility on."

Darius stood up and Annabeth held her hand out for injection. "I thought so too," she said. "I still think so. But after Jason confessed during that siege drill, all the Elicii looked at me like a de facto Alpha. And in that moment I couldn't think of anyone to give the power to, so I took it. The next day the Betas said they approved and Chiron and Lupa said they approved so I just... continued."

Darius threw away the syringe and started preparing her order. "It's better that way," he said before Rei could respond. "Rei, you only doubt her because you haven't seen her with the lower ones. They almost fangirl over her. No, scratch that. They actually fangirl over her! You should get out of your labs more."

"They really don't," Annabeth said with a smile.

"Hey, just 'cause you haven't seen anyone faint doesn't mean they don't love you."

Rei interrupted their easy back-and-forth. "What about Mr D?"

"I'm meeting him today. He'll tell me whom he wants me to give the power to, and also whether what I did with Jason is right. It's a little late, I know. Chiron said he's been very busy."

Darius handed over the box of Pacifiers to Tom, one of her guards. "Well, just don't hesitate to tell him how happy the Elicii are with you, okay? Praise yourself for me. I know our generation is the actual and literal manifestation of self-worth issues, but at least try, okay?"

"I will. Thanks, Darius."

Annabeth had not self-worth issues. Sure, Athena could occasionally crush her by just speaking a few words, but except for that, Annabeth had no delusions. She was meant to be a goddess and nothing less.

The room was deserted except for a wooden chair and a large screen on the far wall. The screen was blaring static and the temperature was basically Antarctica. Common sense screamed this was an intimidation tactic, and so Annabeth tentatively stepped inside, maintaining the angel act.

When she closed the door behind her, the screen changed to an image of Mr D sprawled across a white couch in a room with void-black walls. Sat by his side were a boy and a girl, both aged about twelve and looking near tears. It looked like he'd just finished talking to them. Mr D's posture was lazy but his eyes followed her as she went to the chair and took a seat.

"Good afternoon, Mr D," she said experimentally.

He pushed the kids off and the camera zoomed in. "It's usually me who starts, Annabelle. But then again, you are different. Yes, very different, Chiron told me."

"Did you… like what he said about me?"

"What need," Mr D drawled, "is there for me to like it? What need is there for you to know whether I did or not?"

"I need your approval to continue as Alpha. Jason... he told me once that you're the one in control, always. And Luke— I… I saw him burn. That's a... yeah. Strong, uh, message."

"Hmm. Lucas was a liability, I'm sure you know. As was James by the end, I hear." He leaned forward far enough to fill half the screen with his face. "Both male, both blond, both miscreants. Are you different?"

Before Annabeth could get a word out, he answered himself, pulling back. "Of course you are different. First female Alpha in a long time. Risen without violence or my blessing. Oh, and such a messiah."

"I'm— Yeah. I, um, can't argue with that. Most Elicii like me—that's what we're calling Members now. As does Chiron. The Betas and Lupa... well, they haven't killed me yet. I think that's kind of their way of okaying me. That's why I wanted to talk to you. You're the only one left who can want me to step down. Do you?"

He waved it off. "No, no. Continue. I don't care very much if it's you or John. Except for the traitor part of him, you're both the same to me. What I want to know is how did the thought of assuming that position come into your head?"

Being dumped by Luke, being ignored/abused by my parents and Jason, realizing my potential. Take your pick.

She squashed her wry thoughts and forced some more trepidation into her voice. "I didn't— It wasn't a plan. I didn't even think 'I'll be the Alpha now that Jason's dead.' I just told... someone... what Jason had done and what had to be done to him. They took it as me becoming Alpha and giving orders. And everybody just accepted it.

"When I finally came to my senses and got my bearings, I knew I had to give it up to someone else, chosen by someone else. So I went to the Betas to ask them who they wanted to replace me with. They sent me to Chiron and Lupa. But they just said something like 'You're okay,' and send me off. And I just… rolled with it. Waiting to meet you. You're the last authority."

"And I said I don't care, so you'll carry on. I don't need to remind you I hold the scissors poised over your life strings since you already know from seeing Lucas die."

She hesitated once more, for effect. "So... I can... go now?"

"A minute. You're different, as I said, and so you get a different warning. Jacob was seemingly pure, but still dark enough. For you I'll spell it out especially: Do not try to reform the system and try to pull the Members—Elicii, whatever—away from drugs or slaves. That is one of my holds on them and you. If you dare disrupt it, I'll have to use… other holds. And I'd like that, but you won't. Not one bit. Do you understand? It's a pretty simple warning: don't repair them, or I'll make sure they break more... permanently."

Annabeth stifled a yawn. This is boring.

"Next order: Leave Jace Wayland to me. You can't possibly do his errors justice. Is that clear?"

"Y-Yes."

"Then get lost."

Annabeth nodded frantically and scrambled to her feet. The screen went black and the lights came on. Just to be safe, she kept the angel act going. Inside she launched into plotting without a moment's delay.

As she'd expected, Mr D hadn't been a problem. She knew what he wanted, and she knew that as long as he got it he wouldn't worry about her motives.

The real problem was closer. Less predictable enemies, like Lupa, Kira, Miranda and Percy. Lupa was an enigma, Miranda was a loose cannon, Kira was stubborn, and Percy was either an idiot or her ultimate nemesis.

Let's focus on Miranda and Kira first. Lupa and Percy are not urgent.

Getting to Miranda was probably just basic manipulation. She's a brute, isn't she? Those types kneel easily. Two days of sweet-talking, then creating some disaster, and 'saving' her life. That would be enough.

Kira… would be easily handled by the 'the power is changing me' skit, if executed properly. Hell, Annabeth could even have some fun while doing it.

Because it was that easy for her. She could manipulate the people and world around her like a player changing the settings of a freaking game. Right-click on the scene, select Properties in the drop-down menu, adjust whatever she wanted, click on Apply. She could make people smile and scowl, blush and cry. She could make people kill themselves. For her.

Goddess. I am a goddess.

It was objectively, verifiably true.

Annabeth knew Rei was an easy target. He was five ranks above Christina, but he was also the less physically powerful of the two of them, meaning a damaged ego and ready kindling.

All that remained was a trigger, and she held it right in her hand.

Well, technically she held only the left hand of the person who would deliver the trigger sentence, but that was just semantics.

Christina's hand was fragile in hers, which meant her Fighter skills were more snipe-from-a-block-away than fist-fight-to-the-death. Which was just as well, because Annabeth needed her to not retaliate right away. The act needed a silent moment of shock before her guards would take Rei away, and that was only possible if Christina didn't take matters into her own hands and kill Rei herself.

Hmm. Come to think about it, Rei won't hit her that hard. If I take her to Will, he'll have her feeling better in no time. We can't have that!

While thinking of ways to aggravate Christina's injury, Annabeth continued to get her to relax. One after another, she used every dusty old trick in the book. From modulation to familiarity, contact to confidentiality. Inch by inch Tina's guard came down; bit by bit Annabeth plotted a collision course.

This is gonna be beautiful.

As planned, as soon as they stumbled into Rei, Christina left her side to join his.

Within seconds, Annabeth turned Rei furious. She brought him to the point of no return, and then, when he casually put an arm across his girlfriend's shoulders, Annabeth acted shocked. "Tina? Are you cheating on Darius?!"

Before Christina could speak, Rei threw her to the floor. "I knew it!"

Oh for goodness' sake why didn't you just slap her?

But Tina was quickly recovering, and Annabeth only had seconds before she'd clear the misunderstanding. In desperation, she changed the plan massively. "Stop! What are you doing? Don't hurt her!"

He faced her, shaking with anger. "Do NOT tell ME what to do, bitch."

"Rei, stop! You can't do this!"

She could see the last speck of logic disappear from his eyes. "I'll deal with you later." He turned to Christina, who was almost up. "You! Stay. DOWN!"

Everyone heard her jaw break.

Annabeth jumped to Christina's rescue, shielding her from him. Mad with rage, Rei shoved her out of the way. One of her guards caught her, another pounced on Rei and took him down.

She helped Tina to her feet and hugged her. "You're safe," she said. "I promise you he'll regret this."

After an appropriately long hug (during which she took the time to redden her eyes), Annabeth pulled back. "Don't speak, you'll hurt yourself. Let's go get you fixed."

Turning to the guard who'd helped her up, she said through gritted teeth, "Take three and come with us. Send the others to lock him up. Make sure no one can meet him, I'll deal with him once Tina's okay."

Will gave Christina an icepack and two F1-Healers. (Overkill, in Annabeth's opinion.) He advised them to go see a consulting surgeon because it could get worse. Naturally, Annabeth went the simpler way and drugged and ditched Tina first chance she got.

When she reached the room where Rei was being held, he was already in chains in a soundproof room. He was also sweating and breathing hard, as she could see from a tiny window in the door.

"What did you do to him?" she asked nobody in particular. John, Tom and Destin... I always forget their ranks.

"Nothing," said Tom. "We were waiting for you."

"What do you suggest we do with him?"

Tom hesitated. "I don't…"

Thankfully, Destin had an idea. "Thirty whips, with a cotton shirt on. Cotton hurts the most, and rips the most."

This one knows what he's talking about! "Just ten, please? I don't— I've got threats about this kind of stuff. I can't do much…"

Tom regained his confidence. "It's alright, Alpha. We know what he did. He deserved it."

"Yeah! He's an asshole. My brother got thrown out because of him!"

"It's… settled then. But don't do it yet. I want to speak to him first."

"I'll come with you," Destin said.

Whoa, man. Getting too friendly, are we? "It's okay. He can't hurt me."

"But Alpha—"

"Drop it, Destin," Tom said. "He's tied up and can't even stand. She'll be fine."

Annabeth nodded. "Thank you."

Rei's head came up when he heard the door open. He was sitting in a corner, his wrists chained to the floor. "Why are you here?" he asked.

Annabeth patiently waited for the door to close. "To listen."

"I'm sorry, alright? I was strung up. I'm not usually like this."

"Oh I know that."

"Look, I'll even stay away from her and whatnot. Just let me go before someone sees."

Annabeth kept her face away from the window for potential peeping Toms. She paced the room, mildly interested. "Hmm. It isn't even that big a crime. I've seen worse happen to the captured ones. I've had worse happen to me. In Luke's time, we wouldn't have even blinked at this."

"Exactly! I know she's your friend and everything, and I know your feminist shit. I understand why you have to do this. Just suspend me for a week or something."

"You know what upsets me, Rei?"

Silence. He blinked at her, uncomprehending.

She stopped pacing and looked him in the eyes. "Do you know. What upsets me. Rei?"

"Your friend got hurt."

"Not really. It's actually because I won't be able to hear your screams."

"Wh-What?"

She approached him, stopping five feet away. "Yeah, this room is soundproof. I won't be able to hear your screams. It's a tragedy, really."

"What? But you said—"

"Hurting some random Kappa isn't a crime. Trying to take my rank, is one. I'm gonna keep this short: I intend to hold this power for years."

"You're—"

She stepped closer. "I'm the smartest person in fifty miles. None of you dummies can replace me. This is your punishment for trying."

"Annabeth, don't—"

But she'd already stopped listening. She turned around. "And for being a terrible boss. Dude, seriously. We're not cattle."

"Listen to me damn it!"

She took a moment to prepare a teary face, then knocked on the window. Tom opened the door.

She rushed out and closed the door behind her, breathing heavily. "He said— He said he won't forget this."

Destin rolled up his sleeve. "He threatened you?"

"He said he'll start a rumor. That I'm greedy and terrible and that I want the throne for myself. But I don't, I'm not that kind of person. I won't— You have to believe me! Kira said she'll kill me if something like this reaches her."

"We know you're not like that," Tom said. "We know you're doing the right thing here."

Annabeth doubled down on the cornered animal act. "But he said— he said he would—"

Destin took her by her shoulder and gently pulled her away from the door, handing her to Tom. "Don't worry Alpha." He opened the door, grinning like a maniac. "When I'm done with him, he won't dream of hurting you."

This one. I like this one.

Phew. That's Annabeth. By the way, her ego (hubris) is canon-compliant. Actually, every character's fatal flaws are in this fic. They may be less obvious now, but they'll all play pivotal roles in the story. (And I know that for many characters, canon doesn't say what their fatal flaws are, but I'm going by my best estimate and the most popular theories.)

News 1: Mei Bruges is helping me edit my previous chapters to make them more readable and streamlined. I'll be updating chapters randomly. The plot won't change, just the style will. I don't know why anyone would want to know this, but just… yeah.

News 2: While editing this chapter, I (accidentally and irreversibly) deleted half of the next chapter. It's… It's gonna be weird. And maybe somewhat shorter than usual. Since that incident, I've ported my docs to a more reliable system, so hopefully this won't happen again. Again, don't know why anyone would want to know this. Just putting it out there.