Stolen Moments

*This story takes place over the course of the events of The Son of Neptune and The Mark of Athena and primarily focuses on Annabeth and Percy. It starts immediately after The Lost Hero ends, after Jason has dropped his bombshell about Percy's likely location and memory status.*

"Percy Jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn't even remember who he is."

As soon as she could, Annabeth escaped into the woods. Jason's words ran on repeat through her head: "Percy Jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn't even remember who he is." She pushed through branches viciously, trying to shove the words away. But it was no good. When she burst into the clearing with Zeus's Fist and realized where she was, everything—the fear, the stress, the exhaustion, the worry of the last few days, and now this—bubbled up in her chest and ripped from her throat in a raw scream.

Several startled birds fluttered into the air. A dryad materialized from her tree to give Annabeth a very dirty look, then stalked off into the woods. Annabeth didn't care. The anger burned away quickly, leaving worse feelings in its wake. She dropped to the ground, buried her face in her knees, and broke down in tears.

Just when she was trying to decide if she wanted to pull herself together or dissolve into another round of sobbing, a gruff voice nearby said, "Here," and someone thrust a fistful of tissues at her arm.

Annabeth's head jerked up. Two blurry shapes were kneeling beside her. She blinked the tears out of her eyes and the shapes resolved themselves into Clarisse La Rue and Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Clarisse's expression was sour, but she was still trying to hand Annabeth a wad of tissues. Reluctant but grateful, Annabeth took them with a mumbled, "Thanks." She mopped at her eyes, then said, "What are you two doing here?" It came out more aggressive than she intended, and she winced. "I mean, how'd you find me?"

"Piper saw you go into the woods." Rachel slid down to sit with her back against the boulders of Zeus's Fist. "She suggested you could use some company."

"Then a pissed off dryad told us about some girl blubbering in her clearing." Clarisse gave the rocks a distasteful look, then flopped down in the grass, leaning back on her hands. "It wasn't hard to figure out."

Annabeth nodded vaguely, tearing a damp tissue into shredded pieces. Blubbering. That sounded about right. She was blubbering. Gods, that was pathetic. She should be doing something. But she'd been doing for days. It had all led nowhere. And now…

Rachel put a hand on her arm. "Percy will be okay."

"Yeah. If anybody can survive, it's Jackson," Clarisse agreed. Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Punk."

Annabeth knew that. She knew in her bones that they were right. Heck, she knew better than anybody about Percy's almost ridiculous ability to survive impossible odds. But… "You heard what Jason said, though. How he might not even know who he is. He might not…remember." She hated the way her voice caught on the last word, hated the selfish part of her that wasn't only worried about her boyfriend's safety. The part that couldn't move past the fact that Jason had arrived with exactly zero memories of anyone or anything from his past.

To their credit, neither Rachel nor Clarisse tried to make her feel better. Rachel just gave her arm a light squeeze. Clarisse kicked a dirt clod. Annabeth wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling her knees to her chest. Her armor was digging into her stomach, but she didn't care. It just added to her general miserableness.

"I hate this place," Clarisse announced, glaring around the clearing. "That was a bad battle."

"We won," Annabeth pointed out, although her heart wasn't in it. Clarisse was right; that had been a tough battle.

"It was an ugly win," Clarisse countered. "Why would you come here?"

"I didn't plan on it," Annabeth said. "I just kind of ended up here. I needed to get away from the Big House."

"You know," Rachel said slowly, as if she were thinking out loud, "maybe Jason doesn't remember anything because he didn't have anyone specific to remember."

"I appreciate that, Rachel, but this is Hera." Annabeth practically spat the goddess's name; it tasted bitter on her tongue. "She hates me. She'll make sure Percy doesn't remember anything." Her chin trembled and she fought back the tears threatening to make a reappearance.

Clarisse was studying her intently. "Do you really believe that?"

"Yes," Annabeth said defiantly. "Why wouldn't I?"

Clarisse shook her head. "I just thought you'd have more faith in Jackson than that."

Annabeth felt taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Clarisse shrugged. "I've seen the way Prissy looks at you. Especially when he thinks no one is watching." Her voice softened a fraction. "I wouldn't bet on the goddess over him, girly."

Annabeth pressed her lips together, then said, "I just don't want to get my hopes up."

"But you definitely shouldn't give up hope entirely," Rachel said. "I agree with Clarisse. I was in the maze and in Manhattan with you guys, remember? I don't think he'd give you up easily."

Annabeth's lips quirked up in the barest hint of a smile. "I can't believe you're actually telling me that."

Rachel smiled. "Things change."

"Well, thanks." Annabeth drew in a shaky breath. "I'm not giving up. I just needed to process what Jason said."

Rachel nodded. "Totally understandable. But what happens now?"

They were both watching her intently. Annabeth took another deep breath, then pushed herself to her feet. "Now, I help Leo Valdez build that ship."

The spring was a blur. When she wasn't spending time at camp helping Leo with the construction of the Argo II, she was chasing down possible leads on Percy's location (which all went nowhere), visiting Sally Jackson, or trying to pass her classes. Valentine's Day was particularly miserable. She knew it was kind of a dumb holiday, but it was a dumb holiday that just reinforced that her boyfriend was missing. To her surprise, though, Rachel Dare showed up at her dorm with snacks. They spent the evening watching comedy and horror movies while passing first a bag of chips, then later a carton of ice cream back and forth.

Even though it started to feel fruitless, and everyone else seemed to think they had to wait for the Argo II to be finished before finding the Romans, Annabeth kept trying to get a lead on Percy. Even if she couldn't go to him yet, she just wanted to know he was out there somewhere. Alive and with his memories, preferably. Her search took her to Texas in late March, where she spent a weekend at the Triple G ranch. She figured Eurytion probably heard things through his monstrous grapevine, but he hadn't heard any rumors of Percy Jackson or even any anonymous, amnesiac demigod. He did mention that he'd heard the name Jason Grace a few times, but couldn't tell her more than that. Annabeth was frustrated, but she still helped him spruce up the moo-mobile (as Percy had once called it) so it could carry animal feed around the ranch more efficiently.

When she got back to camp, though, all her energy deserted her. She sank down next to Thalia's pine tree, shrugging off her backpack and looking out over camp. It was still the off-season, so it wasn't busy. A few people were hanging out near the archery range, and a couple were on the climbing wall. That was about it. Annabeth felt drained. It was exhausting to keep searching and coming up with nothing. But the other option was to stop searching. And she couldn't do that. She absolutely refused to give up on Percy.

Something touched her leg, and she jumped. It was only Peleus, though. He rested his chin on her leg and she scratched his scaly head, grateful for the comfort. She stayed there until the sun set and the stars were beginning to come out. Then she gave Peleus a final pat, picked up her backpack, and dragged herself down the hill and across the green to her cabin.

Time passed slowly. There were so many setbacks with the ship it started to feel like supernatural sabotage. She wasn't the only one who thought so, but there was nothing they could do except keep pushing forward. Nothing got easier after she met her mother in Grand Central Station and Athena/Minerva gave her cryptic advice and a cursed coin that she couldn't get rid of. It also seemed to be giving her nightmares. Night after night, Annabeth returned to her home in Virginia, when she was seven years old and the spiders came. It wasn't a great memory. As spring faded into summer, Annabeth's nerves were shot. She had a calendar up near her bunk, counting down to the summer solstice, which was when Chiron was suggesting they leave, but the days were crawling by.

A morning in mid-June found Annabeth at the breakfast table at her father's house in San Francisco, checking her backpack as she prepared to fly back to New York. She'd made a quick trip home because who knew when she'd next be back? It had actually been good to spend a few days with her dad, and even her stepmom and the boys had been nice. Plus, the trip had given Annabeth the opportunity to look around the Bay Area for any signs of the Roman camp. She knew she was jumping the gun, that it was unlikely she could find anything before the solstice and the time that the ship was ready to sail (based on everything Rachel and Chiron had said, anyway), but she couldn't resist looking. She was desperate for any sign of Percy. All she wanted to know was that he was okay.

But no luck. She'd found no sign of Romans in the Bay Area, despite Jason feeling confident that the camp was here somewhere. So now she was heading back to Camp Half-Blood to oversee the final preparations on the Argo II.

Her stepmom had already left to take the boys to school, but her dad had stayed to drive Annabeth to the airport. He was currently sitting at the table on his laptop, scrolling through emails, frowning and muttering to himself. The TV on the counter was tuned to the local morning news. As Annabeth checked to make sure her knife and Daedalus's laptop were in place (thankfully the Mist always helped her get her weapon through airport security), she caught the newscaster's voice talking about the police car that had been stolen from Martinez, a town out near Walnut Creek. "The car was found today, nearly totaled, outside Hidden Lakes Park."

Her dad glanced at the TV and shook his head. "Who steals a police car?"

A desperate demigod, maybe, Annabeth thought as she shrugged in response. Although it wasn't a great plan. Much wiser, if you were forced to steal a car, to go for something more subtle. "Hey, Dad, are you ready? My flight's in less than three hours."

"Randolph," her father grumbled, scowling at his computer. Annabeth looked up in slight surprise at her uncle's name. She knew he emailed her father every few years, and it usually left him in a bad mood. After a moment, though, his scowl was replaced by a slightly confused look and he asked, "Did you say something, honey?"

Annabeth fought hard not to roll her eyes. "Yeah, Dad. Are you ready to leave for the airport?"

It was a quiet ride, both of them lost in their own thoughts. However, once they were standing on the Departures curb preparing to say good-bye, her father cleared his throat. "So, do you have everything you need for this quest coming up?"

"I think so."

"Weapon, that fancy laptop, medical supplies? Plenty of portable snacks and water? A way to make fire?"

"Checks on all that," Annabeth replied, deciding that the granola bar and empty water bottle she'd tossed in her bag counted, for now.

"Good." Her dad nodded, then awkwardly held out his arms. "Well, take care, Annabeth."

She stepped forward and hugged him, surprised by the sudden lump in her throat when her dad wrapped his arms around her. The mark of Athena suddenly felt very heavy in her pocket. When she stepped away from her dad, she found herself blurting out a question that had been bothering her ever since her encounter with her mother a few weeks ago. Maybe it was even what had brought her all the way out to San Francisco one final time before the quest. "Dad, do you think Mom's always right?"

He looked taken aback by the question. "What do you mean?"

"I just—I ran into her about a month ago and she said—well, she said some things I just—I just don't know if I agree with." As succinctly as possible, she gave her father an overview of Athena's words.

When she finished, her father frowned, considering. "You know, Annabeth, one of the things I admired most about your mother was her wisdom. The way she could coolly and tactically examine a situation and draw the most logical conclusion. I've told you just how much her guidance helped me on my dissertation. Having said that, she also has her blindspots. And I tried not to make the mistake of thinking she was perfect." He put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "Even in the old stories, the Greek gods made mistakes. Power doesn't necessarily make someone wise. Even, occasionally, very rarely, the goddess of wisdom."

"That's a dangerous thing to say," Annabeth said with a small smile, though she doubted her mother was in any condition to incinerate mortals.

"I'll take my chances." Her dad returned the smile and squeezed her shoulder. "You're intelligent and wise, too, Annabeth. And I know—I know I don't say this often enough, but I'm proud of you and what you've accomplished. You'll make the right decisions."

Thinking about her father's words a couple hours later as her plane taxied for takeoff, Annabeth had to blink back tears. She wasn't used to receiving praise like that from her dad. It caught her off-guard just how much his words meant. She'd given him another hug before waving good-bye and heading into the airport. Now, she leaned back against her seat and closed her eyes. Her hand drifted to her pocket, where the coin was nestled.

On her way to camp from Newark Airport, Annabeth made a quick stop at the Upper East Side. Sally greeted her with a hug and a fully packed duffel bag. "I grabbed as much from his room as I could," she told Annabeth. "And added a few things—toothbrush, toothpaste, things like that. You might want to check his cabin, too, and see if you can grab the bag he packed for winter break." Sally's voice broke and she put a hand over her mouth, closing her eyes.

Annabeth looked down at her shoes, feeling shaky after the five-hour flight and willing herself not to cry. She squeezed her hand around the coin in her pocket, letting it press against her palm and keep her grounded. After a couple deep breaths, she said, with as much conviction as she could manage, "We're going to find him, Sally. I'm going to find him. And when I do, I'll make sure he comes home. So, you know, you can ground him for about six months."

Sally gave a watery laugh and wiped her eyes. "I like that plan. Don't worry, though, dear; I can make an exception for you."

"Thanks, Sally." Annabeth gave her another hug, holding on a little tighter than she normally would.

Sally returned the hug. "Take care of yourself, Annabeth. I'll see you when you come home. When you both come home."

Later that evening, Annabeth found herself sitting alone on the Big House steps, watching the sun set over Long Island Sound. The camp was winding down for the evening. A few campers were left at the dining pavilion, but most were making their way to the amphitheater for the nightly campfire and sing-along. Annabeth saw Jason and Piper heading that way, holding hands. Piper spotted her and waved. Annabeth waved back, even as her heart twisted. Once they'd disappeared into the dark, she slumped forward, resting her chin in her hand and staring off into the gloom, trying not to think about Percy holding hands with some other girl. No matter what, I will make you remember.