And here we get some Annabeth! Enjoy.
Replies:
Undeath9087: In canon Bob killed her, in this she escaped. And yeah, it'll take a lot.
Guest: I like to think I do it justice.

Annabeth hated her dreams, she hated them so much. And she hated her mother too, though at least this time the message had been clear. Annabeth somehow needed to get a message to Reyna, to ask her to come to them so that she could take the Parthenos to Camp Half-blood- a Roman delivering it, a peace offering, the ultimate peace offering really.

Of course, that was easier said than done, as Annabeth had complained when she'd told Rachel.

She'd attempted an Iris message as soon as she'd woken up but she hadn't gotten through. It was stressful to say the least.

And then Rachel had made the suggestion-a suggestion that Annabeth hated, hated more than she'd thought possible.
And she hated it even worse because she was terrified that it wasn't actually a bad suggestion- that it might actually be the only chance they had.

They needed to get word to Reyna, needed to make contact, and were very few people they could send to do that. They couldn't send one of the Seven, that was out of the question, in fact, sending a demigod in general would be beyond risky- which didn't leave them many options.

Until Rachel had quietly pointed out that she wasn't a demigod. She was just a clear-sighted mortal- admittedly one with prophetic abilities. Which meant that the Romans were less likely to kill on sight.

Annabeth had reluctantly brought this up to the others- mostly because if she didn't she had no doubt that Rachel would, and after some discussion Grover had declared that he would travel with Rachel- it wouldn't be an easy journey- Athena had told them where they would need to go- it wasn't too far away and apparently she'd arranged for Persephone to transport the messengers from a specific spot which Blackjack would take them to.

Ethan had also volunteered to help too.

Bianca had offered to try and shadow travel them to Camp- but Will had refused to allow that- she was still recovering from her time in Tartarus- and that thought still scared Annabeth. Seeing how badly hurt Bianca had been- it just made Annabeth's chest go tight, imagining Percy, Nico and Leo down there- though at least they had one another.

In any case they needed Bianca to lead them to the Doors of Death- and unlike Nico she wasn't so accomplished with her shadow travelling- oh she could do it well enough, but weakened as she was once would probably exhaust her completely, not ideal when they needed her back on the Argo II when the time came for them to get to the Doors of Death. Bianca was their guide, and Annabeth couldn't lose them that. Not even to make Rachel's journey easier.

Which was why, less than two hours after waking up, Annabeth was being forced to say goodbye to Rachel.

At least they'd been given some privacy- they were up on deck near the front- Blackjack had arrived with a couple of his friends, and he was over on the other side of the deck with the others.

"I don't like this." Annabeth's voice was shaking slightly-and she wasn't going to pretend that she was ashamed about that. "I don't like it Rachel it feels so wrong."

"I know." Rachel was resting her forehead against Annabeth's, "I know my beautiful brainbox, but we don't have much of a choice." she pressed her lips to Annabeth's, a gentle brush before she pulled back again, fingers brushing over her girlfriends cheek in a way that Annabeth always found soothing. "I'll come back to you. Just like you came back to me.
You hear me?"

"But- but I'm a demigod and- and you're a mortal it-"

"I know." Rachel murmured the words, "I know. But I'm not some helpless weak mortal and you know that Annabeth.
And I can sense it, this is what I'm supposed to do. I need to go and get Reyna. If we want peace between Greeks and Romans it's the only way."

"What if I said I don't care anymore." Annabeth's voice cracked, "What if I said fuck the gods- fuck Gaea and the war. What if I said that I don't care? Rachel I- you're the only- you're keeping me sane. Every time I love someone they go away. And- and I can't keep losing people Rachel I can't." and Rachel's arms were suddenly tight around her and Annabeth let out a broken little sob. "I keep losing them and it's always my own fault-"

"No- no Annabeth don't do that to yourself." Rachel's voice was gentle, "Don't you do that to yourself honey. You know it's not your fault right?"

"I- I knew that losing Percy wasn't my fault the first time." Annabeth managed, "There was only ever two people to blame for that, and they were always Kronos and Alabaster. But- but this time- I know we weren't together but- but I still love her so much and I know you do too and- and it was my stupid quest. I was the one who Arachne wanted to drag into the pit Rache- she took Percy as revenge because Percy was too stubborn to let me fall."

"Annabeth-"

"She fell because she was saving me. If she'd just let me fall- or- or if I'd been braver I could have fallen with her, it would have been- I could have helped her-"

"I let her go down there knowing what was going to happen." Rachel cut Annabeth off, "I knew we'd lose her and I let her go down anyway, I hid up on deck. Annabeth- she was going to fall no matter what. I sensed that much." her look was pained. "Does it suck that we're stuck up here without her? Yes. But she's not alone. Nico and Leo followed her- and those two are going to help her Annabeth. Do you trust me-"

"Of course I trust you I always trust you. You- Rachel how could you even feel the need to ask me that you know that I-" her voice cracked, "I don't trust easy and- and right now you're probably the one person in the whole world who I really, truly trust with everything."

"Then look at me." Rachel pressed the palm of her hands to Annabeth's cheek, tilting her head just so, so that Annabeth's beautiful gray eyes locked onto Rachel's forest green-and Annabeth really did love that color. She was torn between which shade of green was her favorite, the beautiful deep sea green, or the bright, vibrant living forest green of Rachel's. And right now Rachel's eyes were glinting in determination.

"I-" Annabeth swallowed hard, her breath catching, "I'm looking at you." she managed.

"Good. Now you listen to me right now my beautiful genius. She's coming back to us. I don't know how I know. I never know. But I know that Percy will come home. And so will I. And then- once we're all back together- maybe we can teach her that she doesn't have to live in fear, and that we don't care about her issues and we'll help her through them no matter what. The three of us against the world. But the only thing that really, truly matters is that we'll be together again. We'll both come back to you. You won't have to be alone. And just for the record even with me gone you'll still have Thalia and the others here-"

"You and I both know it's not the same." Annabeth muttered the words- but some of the tension in her shoulders eased slightly and she exhaled slowly.

"Maybe not, but she loves you and she's basically your big sister and the others all care too." Rachel brushed her fingers through Annabeth's curls. "Don't shut yourself off while I'm away. Remember the others need you to lead them yes, but they also need you to actually look after yourself if you want to do that-"

"Why do you have to be right?" Annabeth grumbled the words, but a smile played across her lips as she pressed her lips to Rachel's. "You're- gods Rache."

"You love me, I know." Rachel smirked slightly as she pulled back, "You know- I wish I had a camera on me right now- just so that I could take a picture to paint it later-" and that made Annabeth's face flush.

"Rache-"

"Not my fault that my girlfriend is insanely beautiful." Rachel remarked as she pulled back, "I cannot be held responsible-"

"You're ridiculous." Annabeth couldn't help the laughter that bubbled past her lips.

"Yes, yes I am." Rachel declared, "Alas, ridiculous has to leave you now." she glanced towards the others- and Annabeth followed her gaze, wincing when she saw that the others were looking towards them.

"It's time already?"

"You know we don't have time to waste Annabeth," Rachel pointed out quietly. "You were the one who said-"

"I know, and I kinda regret it now-"

"Now now brainbox, we both know you didn't have a choice. I'll get Reyna here no matter what."

"Oh? You going to fight her?" Annabeth almost giggled the words, and Rachel grinned back, brushing their lips together again.

"I think I could take her-"

"I dunno." Annabeth tried to force down her giggles, "Octavian yeah, you could crush him like a bug but Reyna seems pretty tough-"

"Can I take you-"

"Depends on your tactics."

"Good point." Rachel agreed, "I doubt kissing Reyna would distract her like it does you."

"It does distract me very wel-" Annabeth was cut off by Rachel's lips on hers again- not a brief kiss this time but a deep one, filled with emotion and passion, and Annabeth practically melted into it- she refused to be blamed for that her girlfriend was amazing.

And then Rachel was pulling away, and Annabeth blinked rapidly as Rachel whirled around and sprinted away across the deck- and by the time Annabeth had managed to organise her scattered thoughts Rachel was already throwing her leg over Blackjacks back- and Annabeth could hear her laughter- and Grover and Ethan's too as the three of them took off into the sky and flew away.

And Annabeth shook her head fondly, smile playing across her lips as she watched her red headed girlfriend disappear from view.

She stayed there for several long minutes- until Rachel was completely gone from view- and she felt movement beside her.

"Annabeth-"

"I'm okay Thalia." Annabeth turned her head, meeting the older girls eyes with a weak smile, "It sucks that Rachel has to go but I'm going to be fine. I don't need you to fuss over me. Luke probably need you more than I do right now. How's he holding up?"

"Hanging by a thread-" Thalia pulled a face, "I think- if anything happens- if they don't all make it back then he's going to lose it. As it is all he cares about right now is doing whatever it takes to get them home safe."

"We have something in common then." Annabeth closed her eyes, letting herself feel the wind on her face, "Rachel says they'll all come back and I trust her."

"If Rachel says it then it's pretty likely." Thalia agreed, laying her hand and Annabeth's shoulder and squeezing gently.

"I just-" Annabeth took a deep breath, "I hope they don't come back changed-"

"If anyone can stay sane through it, it'll be them." Thalia's voice was reassuring, and Annabeth nodded.

"You're right. Of course you are."