Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

Chapter Four

A Not So Happy Ending to Capture the Flag

When I woke up the next morning, I had almost forgotten Andee was in my bed. Somehow during the night, she had ended up wrapped tightly in her arms, her back against my chest and her hands clasped tightly around mine.

When she started to stir in her sleep, I said, "Good morning, Andee."

"Mmmm, mornin'," she said sleepily, yawning and stretching a little before turning to face me. "You are an extremely comfortable person."

"I think that was a compliment…?"

"It was a compliment," she confirmed. It looked like she finally realized where she was when she said, "I…I should probably go." She quickly got to her feet and walked to the door of the cabin. "But thank you for everything, Percy."

She opened the door and paused, before running back to me and kissing me on the cheek. I smiled when she left, watching as she snuck back to her own cabin so she wouldn't be caught and punished for sleeping in the same cabin as a boy who wasn't her brother.

She totally liked me.

Well, I hoped.

"Heroes!" Chiron called out later in the day once everyone had gathered around him. "Capture the Flag – you all know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. Magical items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and a battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

It was a tradition at camp that every two weeks, on Friday, we have a game of Capture the Flag, and this week Chiron thought it would be fun to have a little battle of the sexes. So each side spent the earlier part of the day making banners to represent their cabins on each side. That meant that one side would have Annabeth, Clarisse and Andee.

Great.

But then again, we had some pretty heavy hitters – all of the Ares guys were good with combat, the guys from Hermes were sneaky and crafty, the Athena guys were smart and always had good battle plans…yeah, our team was totally going to win this thing.

Chiron spread his hands and the tables were suddenly covered from end to end with helmets, bronze swords, spears, and oxhide shields coated in metal.

I already had my sword so all I needed was armor to protect myself from the many attacks I was sure I'd be receiving. I happened to glance over at Andee, who wasn't going anywhere near the table. She just stayed in her jean shorts, her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt which she had cut into a tank top and tied up in a knot on the side, and her gold bikini top peeking out from the top of her shirt, and her feet wearing what seemed to be her signature gold gladiator sandals tied up to her knees. She had her bows and arrows slung over her shoulder and her dagger was tucked into a garter near the top of her thigh. It glittered in the sun, letting everyone know it was there and ready to hurt anyone who got in her way. Her hair was also tied in a messy ponytail on the top of her head, keeping her hair out of her face.

"You're not going to wear any armor?" I asked her, causing her to jump a little.

"I don't really need it," she said, tilting her head before running a finger along my armor and moving closer to me. "But you definitely will."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" I asked. She looked up and gave me an innocent smile. "You're on."

"Good. Because I'd expect nothing less from the guy who returned Zeus' master bolt," she said, and then added, "I've heard the stories." She left to join the rest of her team, her hips swaying just a little more as she walked away, and I couldn't indulging myself and watching.

"Demigods! To the forest!" Chiron announced and everyone headed into the woods so their side could prepare and get a plan in place before Chiron lit off the signal flare.

The guys huddled on our side of the forest, deciding on the best position for our flag, who would defend and some different tactics we'd use once we started. We broke up and got into position before I heard the flare go off. "Go!" Mark shouted. Everyone began running and jumping over the creek into enemy territory. We were running and fighting off the girls. The combined force of all us guys seemed to make a pretty good team.

Clarisse shot out of the bushes towards Lee, her spear raised as she charged. "Get the flag!" Lee shouted at me, as he dodged the initial blow and then tried to take her out. I'd had enough encounters with Clarisse's electric spear and decided that Lee could handle it. Probably. I continued running, not having to fight off many people the further in the forest I got. I stopped to catch my breath and regain some strength, and when I looked up, I saw the girl's flag – a bright red piece of fabric covered with all the symbols of the different cabins.

Already won, I thought smugly, striding over to the flag. That was before something – or rather, someone – jumped down in front of me. They stood up straight, their dagger tip brushing against my Adam's apple.

Andee.

Of course.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" she asked, circling me. The blade never left my neck, but never actually cut my skin. It was just tickling it, warning me that it could go deeper if I tried to escape.

"You know, I think a lot of things and they're usually wrong, so yeah." The corners of her lips tugged upward as she tried not to smile.

"Well, my general rule is that if something seems too easy, that it's probably a trap," she said, taking her dagger back and tucking it into her garter. "Well come on then, let's get your butt-kicking over with."

"Or I could do this instead," I said, bringing her closer in an attempt to kiss her. She leaned in as well, but before I could grasp what was happening, she had my sword pointed at me.

"Lesson number two – don't get distracted," she said, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Maybe it was me trying to distract you," I suggested, even though we both knew that wasn't true. She had this strange…aura, maybe…that seemed to pull me in closer and closer whenever she was around.

"Obviously, Perseus Jackson, it's not working," she said, my sword still pointed at me.

"My full name? That's a low blow," I commented and she raised her eyebrows. "It doesn't matter what you do though, because the guys are going to win. We just have more strength."

"Women not only have the strength, but the smarts as well. Plus, we can do anything better than you, and in six-inch stilettos," Andee said with a grin. She looked away, noticing that a few people were gathering around to see who was going to win this instead of making their own attempts for their respective team.

In that moment of distraction, I grabbed my sword back and pointed it at her chest. "Touché," she said, still smiling. She ducked out of the way, pushing my sword down with her foot. We continued fighting and Andee used all sorts of different moves that showed off her flexibility and previous training. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter.

I backed into the creek and immediately felt the water refreshing my body and helping me regain my strength. I noticed that Andee didn't look very affected by the fight, maybe a little glow, but we were also standing in direct sunlight, so I was sure that helped her.

She got a devious smile before reaching her dagger up into the air. A bolt of lightning flew right into it and she brought it down in front of me and forcing the energy back out. But nothing happened. I probably should have been fried but here I was, alive and well. It had to be because I was in the water.

Thank the gods for that.

Andee frowned as she looked at me in confusion, unsure why I wasn't barbecue. I grinned at her and jumped back onto the land, starting the fight again. We were getting nowhere until she knocked my sword out of my hands. I tackled her to the ground and we started wrestling, which didn't last long because soon she was sitting on top of my chest, pinning my arms to my sides with her knees, and her dagger at my throat. "I win."

The girls started cheering loudly as Annabeth came running over with the guys' banner, as if to rub it in our faces even more. Andee just smiled as she gracefully dismounted and joined the rest of the girls.

"Tough break, dude," Grover said as he crouched down beside where I was still lying on the ground. "But on the plus side, it does look like Andee actually likes you. You know, when she's not kicking your ass."

"Yeah, sure," I said, wanting to dissolve into the ground as the girls laughed and cheered over their victory.

Later that night, at the girl's celebratory feast, the big bonfire was going strong. One of the Hermes kids had hooked up some speakers and was playing some loud, fast-paced music that they had probably gotten from one of the Apollo kids – as arrogant as they usually were, they did have pretty good taste in music. There were refreshment tables with an assortment of food and drinks on it, and logs all around the fire for sitting on. Some of the girls from the Hephaestus cabin had made a make-shift flag pole to fly the girls' flag once more, and the Aphrodite girls had made silver and gold wreaths for all the girls to wear in their hair like crowns, all just to show off their victory even more.

Andee, of course, took it a step further and was wearing our flag like a cape.

As I got up to get something to drink, I saw Andee near the fire, a big grin plastered on her face. Her lips were moving along with the words of the song. A few of the Aphrodite girls joined in on the dancing. They all looked like they were having a lot of fun, moving their hips sensually to the beat of the music, attracting the attention of all the guys – and some of the girls – at camp.

A few guys tried to go up and dance with the girls, who eventually brushed them away after one song or so. I got sick of watching Andee with other guys. I had never genuinely gone to a school dance before – the only times I had gone was at boarding school when the attendance was mandatory, and I was one of those guys who would just play basketball in the corner. But I was jealous. Really jealous. And I wanted Andee all to myself.

So in a jealousy-filled buzz of bravery, I marched right up and grabbed her by the hips, bringing her close to me. She let her hands rest on top of mine as she leaned back, relaxing a little as she danced more with me. She lifted my hands up and spun so she was facing me, her normally pale cheeks flushed and her green eyes practically glowing in the light of the fire. She grinned as she pressed her hips right to mine, giggling as she moved her hands restlessly from my chest to the back of my neck to my shoulders. She leaned her forward against mine, staring right into my eyes, just smiling happily. And it was contagious. I couldn't have been happier in that moment.

"You are incredible, Andee," I said in a low voice.

She grinned even bigger, resting one hand on my chest. "You are pretty damn amazing yourself, Percy."

And then she collapsed.