Taken

Chapter 17- Destruction of Permanence

-Annabeth POV-

All I wanted to do was apologize to Jackson. I had betrayed his trust and no one, no matter how bad they are, deserves that. Besides, I've come to learn that Percy Jackson really isn't all that bad. Now I just need to tell him that.

I have been alone in the damned cell for hours. I didn't want to think about what Luke could be doing to Jackson for that amount of time, and I just hoped that there was a really long discussion taking place.

Yeah, right.

I wanted to save him and my friends, but I don't know what was worse- having your best friend hate you, or having them care about you and possibly dead. I know it might sound selfish, but mentally having someone that you love hate you is degrading.

And I loved Jackson. He might not love me the way that I love him, but I know that there has to be something there. I saw it in his eyes. I saw it the same way I saw the pain that I caused when I betrayed him.

I knew that when he came back, it would take a lot of work, but I knew that somehow I could gain his trust again. I knew that it was hard for him to open up to me, just as it took a lot for me to open up to him, but I believed that we would be able to do that with each other again.

He made me a better person, and I wasn't a big enough fool to let that go.

My mind started to wander to what could be happening to Jackson during the time that we had been separated. I remember how Malcolm was forced to choose between two different people, and the memory made my heart clench.

"So, Malcolm. Who are you going to choose? Your girlfriend or your sister?" Luke's voice echoed throughout the room.

Malcolm's blonde hair was sweaty and matted against his forehead. His grey eyes held a kind of pain that no one would be able to feel unless put in his situation. Having to decide who to kill: the one he loves, and the one he knew he needed to protect against all odds.

"Why me, Luke? Why would you do this?" His broken voice rasped, bringing tears to my eyes. Even as a child I knew when Malcolm was sad. But I had never seen him like this before.

Luke's blue eyes turned dark with anger and he took two stalking steps forward, as a predator would stalk its prey.

"You tried to stop me, Malcolm. You made me choose what I valued most. And now it's your turn."

"But why would you make me choose between them? You love both my sister and Lexa! Luke, please, don't do this!"

Luke's chilling, hollow laughter filled the room. He walked toward me, fingering my matted curls for a second then turning to Malcolm in disgust. "You obviously have more to lose than I do, Chase. Now, choose. Your sister, or the love of your life? Who dies?"

Malcolm started to shake his head, and his body seemed to shut down. He stopped trying to resist against the chains and free himself. It seemed as if he had given up.

"Please, don't do this."

"I'm going to count down from ten, and if you don't answer my question by the time I hit one, I will blow both of their brains out."

Luke moved from his position in front of the monitor showing Lexa in the background, bound and gagged, to holding a gun and pointing it at me.

"Malcolm!" I screamed in fear. His eyes flew to mine desperately, but now I could see what he was doing. He was weighing his options.

"Nine."

"Please."

"Eight."

Luke pulled the safety off the gun.

"Seven."

"Luke! Don't do it!"

"Six."

I turned my head to look at Malcolm, who was looking between Luke and I in fear. "Stop!"

"Five."

Tears started to stream down Malcolm's face.

"Four."

I closed my eyes.

"Three."

"Alright! Alright! I choose to save my sister! Please, just don't shoot her!"

Luke looked at Malcolm, putting the safety back on the gun, and tossing it to the side. "Just as I had hoped."

The monitor shut off, and Malcolm slumped back into his chair. "You didn't kill Lexa?"

Luke laughed, and leaned back against the wall. "Of course not."

Malcolm choked out a sob in relief, turning his gaze to the ceiling and mumbled a prayer of thanks. Everything was in slow motion when I realized that no one was going to be hurt, and the guns had been put away.

"What made you change your mind?" Malcolm asked breathlessly.

Luke's smile turned dark and he stalked forward to look at Malcolm strait in the eye. Malcolm's shoulders stiffened but he didn't look away from the sudden pressure.

"Now you know what you have to loose, Chase. Your sister can be stripped from you in a mere second and I want to make sure that you know it."

Malcolm's eyes flashed towards mine, wild with fear. A lone tear ran down his cheek as a distant look crossed his face. After that moment, I knew that nothing would ever be the same.

My heart melted as I imagined Jackson having to go through something like that. He had already been so much, and I didn't know if he could take being forced to choose between two people ever again. His loyalty is extremely chivalrous, but it is inherently dangerous as well.

But what if he did have to choose between two people? What would happen if he did? And who would Luke make him choose between?

I knew that Luke was aware of Jackson's infatuation with Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Jackson's ex-girlfriend. I knew that she would be one of the people who Jackson would have to choose between if Luke ever tried to make him do it again.

But the only question would be is who else? After talking with Jackson, I knew that his birth mother had already been threatened, and it's not like Luke to threaten one person's life more than once. I believe he had admitted that it didn't have the same exhilaration as it did the first time.

I let my thoughts drift in and out of reality, trying to pass time when Jackson wasn't present. All I could really think about was how I was going to make it up to him, but I didn't exactly have too much to offer in the present situation.

It wasn't like when I would screw up with one of my friends and I would just take them out to get some gourmet ice cream. This wasn't like that at all.

My thoughts were cut off by the sound of shoes clicking echoing throughout the hallway outside of my cell. My heart started to beat in anticipation of facing Jackson again, and hoping that he was okay after being with Luke for that long of time.

The cell door creaked open and a light turned on, making me squint to let my pupils shrink from their previously dilated state.

Luke waltzed through the door, a petty look plastered on his face. His icy blue eyes looked as if they were pitying me, looking at my shrunken form on the floor.

"Hello, Bethy. How have you liked the dark?"

I did my best to glare at him, but the light kept on getting in my way. "It's a lot better than you, Luke."

A small smile played on Luke's face as he walked forward to stand in the middle of the cell. "You know, I always favored the dark. I found it to be extremely welcoming."

"Why am I not surprised?" I mumbled.

"Besides, I am here for a different reason than talking about how the dark is very complementing to my nature. It seems that our young friend has left us."

My eyes widened and my heart dropped to my stomach. "You… you killed him?"

Luke's smile widened at my reaction, but after a second of contemplation a look of disgust crossed his face. "Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Percy Jackson left the facility, and is not coming back."

"So you're holding him somewhere else then?"

Luke laughed, and shook his head. "No, no. That would be too much work for me. I simply let him leave the campus. Besides, it will be fun to get to have you all to myself?"

My eyebrows shot up. "So you just let him go?"

Luke laughed again, and looked at me as a parent would a child. "I would never just let someone leave, would I? Now, Annie, do you remember what I made your brother do before I killed him? It had something to do with you and a certain woman named Alexa."

Tears silently pooled in my eyes with understanding. "You made him choose?"

Luke's smile turned into a steely look, his eyes unforgiving. "Of course I did. And do you wish to know who I made him choose between?"

I shook my head, my frail body shrinking back into the wall at the realization of what he was saying. "No, no he would never do that."

Luke's eyes shone with aggression and repressed anger. "But Annie, if he didn't choose someone else over you, why isn't he here?"

I looked at Luke with wide eyes, not willing to accept the obvious. "No, you're lying. All you do is lie!"

"Oh please, Annie. You know that I'm not lying to you. You know that your dear Jackson has left you… you're not good enough for him."

Tears fell from my eyes as an unimaginable numbness took over the rest of my body. "He wouldn't have done that."

Luke's eyes flashed. "But he did, didn't he? He left you all alone. Nothing is permanent for you, Annie. You will never have what you desire most, and that is what you must live with."

"I hate you!"

"Is it that you hate me, or that you hate someone else? I believe your feelings are misplaced this time, Annie. I wasn't the one who left you to rot."

My tongue felt like sandpaper. I couldn't say anything if I wanted to. My mind was screaming at me to accept what Luke was saying, that Jackson left me, but my heart wouldn't accept the break.

"You must be wondering who he had chosen."

I shook my head, not wanting to know who Jackson thought was better than me, far more superior than my own life. But it was then that I remembered how much hatred Jackson had for me the last time we saw each other. It was evident that Jackson would have chosen a squirrel over me if he had the chance.

This was all Luke's fault.

"I'm going to tell you anyway. You see, while you and Jackson were plotting your escape, I had a few erons to run myself. Percy's ex-girlfriend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and someone I know to be your friend, went missing a week ago."

My breath caught in my throat. I knew Luke was evil, but I never thought he would stoop so low. She had nothing to do with any of this. It was between Luke and I, and Jackson was even debatable.

It was obvious Luke was just after revenge now, no matter what he had said.

"Rachel is quite a feisty one. She gave you a run for your money, but I was quite disappointed with how fast it took me to get her to crack. You're still my champion, Annie. Anyways, I gave Mr. Jackson the choice on who he was to save, and he chose her. Must sting a little, right?"

I couldn't erase the pain in my chest that hearing Jackson left me by choosing someone else. But I knew that I would have made the same choice in his shoes. He didn't know what had happened between Luke and I, and he had no idea of knowing that it wasn't my fault.

It wasn't my fault.

A fire started to brew in my belly, and a small smile played on my lips. Luke's eyes widened for a split second before returning back to a stony glare, and I knew that he had expected me to break down, and be broken.

Luke's expectant smirk had wilted into an ugly grimace and he stalked out of the room after seeing that his plan hadn't worked on me. He obviously thought that I was a lot weaker than what I truly was.

My heart soared at the thought of being able to see my friends again, being able to see Jackson again and apologizing to him properly. But I wasn't stupid, I knew that I was going to have to get out of here fast, because after showing Luke that I wasn't going to break- he had no use for me.

If I didn't get out of here, and fast, he was going to kill me… but not if I killed him first.

-Percy POV-

I woke up to the sound of beeping and small, fractured voices.

"When do you think he's going to wake up?"

"I don't know, Leo. Just shut for a second, okay?"

"Yeah, shut up or I'll make you."

"Oh, someone's getting a little spicy today!"

"Leo, shut up."

"Awe, Jason! It's your sister's fault, I swear!"

"Will you all just be quiet? Some of us are trying to sleep, here!"

"Pipes, calm down. Hey, does anyone want tacos? I'm feeling some tacos!"

"If it means you leave, then yes."

"Ouch! Low blow, darling, low blow."

I distinctly heard the sound of someone hitting someone else. "Stop hitting on my sister!"

"Stop yelling, all of you! There's a patient next door who is complaining about the noise!"

There was silence for a few moments.

"You think she's gone?"

"Yeah, Juniper. She's gone."

"Good, cause' I think her mole moved from the last time we saw her."

"Ewe."

"Yuck."

"That's freaking nasty."

Silence again.

"So, Rachel… how are you feeling after all of this?"

"You saw the video… you all know that he's laying here because of me."

"He also is safe because of you, you know that."

"But what about Annabeth?"

"She's strong… she can hold out long enough for someone to find her."

"It's already been two months, Grover. You know that after that long that anyone could succumb to terrible things."

"I just hope you're wrong."

"Yeah, Annabeth is strong. We would all be dead if she wasn't."

The beeping noise started to pick up its pace, and everyone went silent as they listened to it.

"Percy, man? You awake?"

I tried to move my lips to make a noise, but I couldn't feel anything. Hell, it seemed as if I couldn't really concentrate on anything either.

"Percy, please wake up."

"Grover, can you go get his mother and father from the café?"

"On it."

The weight that was previously on my mouth and eyes started to alleviate, allowing a noise resembling a groan or mumble to come through.

"He's alive!"

My eyes started to flutter open, and all I could see was white. When my pupils settled into the brightness of the room, I started to see the people around me clearer. Rachel, Thalia, and Jason were by my bed while Juniper, Leo, and Piper were seated at the foot of the bed on a futon looking thing. All of their eyes were wide and astounded as if they thought I had been dead or something.

"Well look who's awake," Jason joked, trying to ease the pressure in the room.

Rachel handed me a glass of water from the table beside her chair. "The doctor said you would be thirsty when you woke up."

I smiled at her and drank the water, just realizing how thirsty I actually had been when I woke up. "Thanks," I spoke, my voice sounding gravelly from disuse.

She just smiled at me in reply, a hint of sadness in her eyes that seemed foreign to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, directing the question to everyone who fell into an uncomfortable silence. "What's happened?"

Jason looked at me in confusion. "Do you know where you are?"

I nodded, wincing at the pain it caused me. "The hospital."

Jason nodded, then asked, "Do you know why you're here?"

My eyebrows furrowed at the question, and I closed my eyes as the knowledge of why I was placed in this hospital hit me. "I was taken by a guy named Luke," I said.

"Do you know why you were taken?" Jason pressed.

"I don't know why you're asking all these questions."

Thalia's eyes seemed to electrify at my snappy answer. "You left my best friend in the hands of some lunatic. So yeah, I'm pretty sure that we have every right to ask questions."

The room was filled with an eerie silence as I had no answer to what Thalia Grace had said. I knew that I left Chase… but I don't think it really hit me that I left her alone. God knows what Luke would do to her now that she's alone.

You left her with a lunatic.

The door slammed open and I barely had any time to brace myself before a streak of black was holding me in their arms. "Oh God, thank you, thank you!"

"Uh… Mom?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"You're squishing me."

The pressure on my ribs decreased a bit, but she was still holding me like a baby, her face in my hair. I could feel my hair start to get wet from some tears.

My friends started to pile out of the room, insisting that I needed time alone with my parents. Unfortunately everything was moving too fast for me to protest, and before I knew it they were gone.

I looked up and saw a doctor and my father standing in front of me, both wearing large smiles on their faces. My father's eyes were red, and I remembered what had happened when I was back with Luke, but I quickly left that thought alone.

I would cross that bridge when the time came, but now I had my family back, and my friends back. But why couldn't I get rid of this sickening feeling in my stomach?

When my mother finally calmed herself and dismissed herself to go call my stepdad, Paul, who was at work, things started to calm down and I could think clearly.

"Well, Mister Jackson, you are quite a lucky duck. I'm Dr. Schwartz, and I was the one who treated you. You're very lucky that you weren't there for another few days, or I'm sure you would have had a lot more treatment to go through. You see, Mr. Jackson, they didn't feed you enough for any human to survive with what trauma you were going through."

"Then how did I survive as long as I did?"

The doctor tapped his pen on the top of the clipboard in his hands, making a clicking sound with his tongue. "You were severely malnourished, and I can't imagine what would have caused your body to function with the stress I've seen on your muscles. I do have a question, Mr. Jackson. Did you run a significant amount when you were kidnapped?"

I nodded, taking a deep breath to calm myself at the thought of hearing everyone's screams. And then when Chase was submerged with water… her face was so scared. I wonder what she was thinking now… did she know that she was alone? Did she even know that I had left her?

"Mr. Jackson?"

I looked up to see the doctor and my father who both had worried looks on their faces. "Yeah, uh, I did actually."

"That's what I thought- there was a significant amount of strain done to both your quadriceps and hamstrings. It might be best to be pushed around in a wheelchair for the next week or so, to let those heal."

I nodded, listening to the doctor, but not really hearing. It seemed as if I was still stuck in the cell.

"You have lost quite a bit of weight as well, which I have already talked to your parents about. I have given them a specific diet to get you back to your normal physical qualities like you were at before."

I looked at the doctor. And pursed my lips at the sympathetic look he had in his eye. "Is that all? Or can I go now?"

"Percy, don't be rash-" my father started, but the doctor waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, Sir. As for you, Percy, you are free to leave as soon as your parents sign you out. But one thing you must know- there are steps that people take after going through an ordeal like you have. Therapy is usually very successful, and very influential to people who have been through a trauma."

"So is that what this was? A trauma?"

The doctor looked at me with wide eyes, seemingly at a loss for words.

"Percy, please-"

I looked at my father, a wild feeling taking over me as I looked into the eyes that were a carbon copy of my own. They were holding uncertainty and sympathy, but also loss. And I felt pain knowing that I was the one who caused that.

"Do you know what he made me do, dad? Do you know how he made me choose between mom and Amphitrite? Do you know how he made me choose between them?"

My father's eyes widened, and a look of horror clouded his face. The doctor just looked at me in shock. "Do you know how it felt to watch your stepmother die because of you?" I asked, my voice breaking.

My mother walked in the room, tears in her eyes, telling me that she heard everything I had just said. Her blue eyes were so sad, but not of sympathy, just pure sadness. She walked in and took me in her arms, once again holding me like a child. But I didn't really mind.

"He made it sound like he was torturing you guys. He made it sound like he was killing you… that's why I was running, Dr. Schwartz. I needed to save my family."

The doctor nodded, and put a hand on my foot as if it would provide some sort of comfort. Everything just felt numb. "I'm sure you saved them, Percy. Everything is going to be okay, now."

I shook my head, a tear falling from my eye. "No, no it's not."

"Percy, you're safe now. You're alive, here, with all of us." My mother soothed, her voice as smooth as the sea.

I shook my head again, trying to make them understand. "No, you're wrong."

"About what, Percy?" My father asked this time, his voice strained. "What's wrong?"

A sob choked out from my throat. "I left her. I left my Annabeth."

"Your Annabeth?" My mother asked.

"Annabeth Chase, mom. She betrayed me, but she didn't mean to. I know she didn't mean to, I see it now. She did it so I could escape and I could be safe."

"Luke still has Annabeth?"

"She's not dead, mom. She's alive, but not for long. Oh God, she promised me everything was going to be alright…"

"Percy, you're not making any sense," my father said.

I took a deep breath and softly took myself from my mother's loving arms. "Annabeth Chase, Dad. We need to save Annabeth before it's too late."