_Annabeth Chase_

_6:52 pm. Headquarters, Manhattan, New York_

Lucky for me, the library doesn't close until 8. Marco had offered to drive me to and from Percy's place, but we were currently in the library. We were sitting out on couch, my head resting in his lap while he worked on his laptop, and I was reread Harry Potter. It's pretty good. Don't judge me. Any way, I got a message, Meeting 7 pm. Be prompt. I sighed. All week, Hurricane had been a no show. It wasn't like he was needed greatly, just small stuff. I doubted he'd show for this, but I still went.

"I gotta go," I said, sitting up.

"Want me to drive you?" Marco asked.

"No, it's pretty close." I said. "You can go back to campus, or wherever you need to go."

"But, where are you gonna stay tonight?" Marco asked.

"I'll probably end up staying with Percy tonight." I said. "Could you pick me up in the morning?"

"Uh, sure," he said. "Where, exactly, are you going?"

"Work emergency," I said, getting up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Beth," Marco said as I walked to the exit.

I turned and waved, before pushing the door open and heading towards Headquarters. I don't know what exactly was the building before we used it, but I knew where it was. It wasn't too far from NYU, and had boarded windows, overgrown plants, and rusted doors. I'd never been on the first or second floor, cause S said we weren't allowed.

When I got there, I opened an air vent, crawling in. I crawled at a slant, going down towards the basement. Once it had straightened, I changed into Grey Shadow, continuing down to the basement. I heard the vent rattle, before the old steel sunk in on itself, sending me tumbling into the basement.

Before I could hit the ground, I felt two strong arms grab me out of the air. I looked up at a pair of amused blue eyes. "I thought you could fly, Ms. Shadow?" Hurricane said. I glared at him, pulling from his grip.

"Where the hell have you been all week?" I yelled. "Do you know how hard it has been answering questions and stopping crime by myself? You could've at least called, let me know what's wrong with you!"

I know, he just stopped me from hitting the ground. But I was still pissed, and I needed to lash out at something.

"Now you want to show up? Everyone keeps blaming me, because all my friends are gone! They all disappeared! My best friend in the whole fucking world is broken, moping around at home instead of being at school! I just want some moral support, okay? I'm hurting too! No one fucking cares about how much I'm hurting, and it's not fucking fair!"

By now, I had hot tears rolling down my face.

"I can't even go and get comfort, from anyone, because then everyone'd know my secret identity. They'd hate me, because I let Nico, my favorite little depressing mess, go. He's gone, and-and it's all my fault."

Slowly, I sunk to my knees, hugging myself as I cried. "I'm such a horrible superhero." I whispered.

Hurricane come over, sitting on the ground and hugging me to his chest. "I care," he whispered in my hair, pressing a kiss to my scalp.

I'm sure you don't want to hear about the rest of my breakdown. I'll tell you a story! This is the story of the time I got my partner, Hurricane. Yay! Story time!

Two years ago

Grace's Jewelry, Manhattan, New York

It was after that whole mess, where that kid—Hurricane—nearly drowned me in bathroom water! I stomped over to him, still soaking wet, while the guys were being escorted to the police station. I jabbed my finger in his chest, and saw him physically tense. "What the fucking hell was that! You could've killed me, or all those innocent civilians in there!" I yelled.

"Woah, Grey Shadow, is yelling at me!" he said excitedly. "I must be the luckiest guy in the world!"

"You about to be a dead guy," I warned.

"I'm sorry, just, wow," he said. "Your so much prettier up close—wait—that's not—no—gah! Sorry, I'm a huge dork, and your super cool, and wow!"

I frowned, lowering my finger. "Okay, dork, listen hear and listen good. I am soaking wet. I don't know what you did, or how you did it, but don't do it again. What do you think your doing, anyway? How come I've never seen you before?"

"Oh, well, I'm Hurricane," he said proudly. "I have water powers."

"What?"

"You have owl powers, I have water powers." Hurricane explained. "I can control it, make it, make it hard, all that stuff. I used the bathroom water, to disorient those robbers and whatever. You kinda got caught in the crossfire, sorry."

"You—water—what?"

Before he could answer, Chief of Police, Officer Johnson, came over. "Great job, kiddos." she said, patting our shoulders. "Mostly teens wouldn't bat an eye, but you two, your something special. Thanks for all your help. Grey Shadow, love the new partner."

She headed back to her squad car, leaving me speechless. "I'm your partner?" Hurricane asked excitedly. "Oh my god, I get to work with the Grey Shadow!"

"No you don't," I spat. "You aren't my partner. I don't know you. Just because you came in handy one time doesn't mean that we're partners."

"I could come in handy more! We could even have cool superhero team name, like The Justice League or The Avengers."

"No! Go home, stay out of this!" I exclaimed. "This isn't a game! This is actual work, with actual lives in jeopardy! You cannot handle—"

"Last I checked, I came to your rescue," he pointed out.

"Your really getting on my nerves," I said through gritted teeth.

"Listen, I'm just as capable as you are, to do this. In fact, I think I'm better then you."

"Excuse me?"

"You couldn't even handle a break in without getting tied up. Your lucky I came, who knows what would've happ—AH!"

He screamed loudly as I punched him in the face, jerking his head to the side. I smirked triumphantly, watching as he massaged his cheek. He glared at me, before watching as my legs were swept from under me, knocking me onto the ground. I groaned, sitting up and seeing my legs not even there.

"What did you do!" I yelled.

He smirked at me, which looked kinda funny with his cheek slowly swelling. "Whoops, must have happened when I lost focus when you punched me."

"Give me back my legs!" I yelled, slowly freaking out. It felt like my legs had fallen asleep, tingly and stinging.

"I don't know, you do need loosen up." Hurricane said, laughing at his joke. "Get it? I loosened your molecules, I said you need to loosen up. Ah, I kill myself."

"I'll kill you, myself." I warned.

"I could make you disappear right now, and never to be heard from again." He warned, his voice hard. "You won't even be dead, you'll be floated infinitely, watching as life goes on without, unable to interact. You'll be water, floating in the air until the day the world collapses in on itself. You'll be so vastly spread out, that your right eye could be here, and your left eye could be all the way in California. Do you want me to do that?"

I shook my head nervously.

"Then I suggest you stop being an ass, and say thank you," he said.

"T-thank you." I mumbled, looking down at the ground.

Hurricane sighed, and I watched as my legs slowly came back, air swirling around them slightly. Hurricane extended his hand to me, which I cautiously took. He pulled me off the ground, looking me up and down.

"Truce?" he asked, holding his hand out. I looked at it, then up at him. Hesitantly, I shook his hand, nodding slowly.

"Truce." I agreed. "This doesn't mean we're friends, by the way."

"Whatever floats your boat, Girlie." he said, smiling goofily. "I gotta get home, my mom is probably really pissed off."

Hurricane was never my favorite person, but he was the only one I could talk to about this. I couldn't even talk to Percy. Mostly because he was going through his own inner turmoil. And Piper was missing, so I couldn't talk to her. Marco knew something was wrong with me, but didn't pry, knowing it wasn't his business.

I sniffed, resting my head on Hurricane's chest. "I don't know, if it's 'cause I'm really emotional right now, but I've never noticed how nice you are." I whispered. I took a shaky breath, smelling the scent of salty oceans rolling off of him. I leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

Hurricane stiffened as I pulled back, making me regret everything. We had a perfect hate-friendship, which I just ruined. I actually succumbed to his affectionate ways. And then, he did something that I'd never expect: he kissed me. Oh the lips. An actual, real kiss. And I kissed him back.

Hurricane pulled his lips back, looking at me confused. "You kissed back," he pointed out. "I thought you hated me?"

I thought for a moment before answering. "I do, cause your annoying. And obnoxious. And you call me these nicknames I hate."

"You love it," Hurricane said, nuzzling the top of my head. I laughed lightly, lightly punching his arm.

"Your ruined the moment." I said, rolling my eyes. He smiled brightly, kissing my nose. I rolled my eyes, shaking his lips off my face.

"You way to affectionate." I pointed out.

"Mommy says it's my best quality, besides my dashing good looks." Hurricane said.

"Oh your so humble." I said, rolling my eyes.

"You didn't deny it!" he pointed out excitedly.

"Shut up." I said, pulling out of his grip. "You know why we're here?"

"My mom just said come here."

I raised a brow at him. "Your mom?"

"Yeah, yeah. She…she said that S wanted…to see us?" Hurricane said.

"That sounded like a question." I pointed out. "Do you mind telling me why you were off the grid for a whole week?"

"Well, you know, with Nico missing. He was really close to regular me. Plus, those two guys escaped, mostly cause of my stupidity."

"That definitely wasn't your fault."

"No, it was. I said that they couldn't leave, and they managed. Now, we're like, five steps behind where we originally were." Hurricane explained. "I was….ashamed?"

"You say a lot of things like they're questions." I pointed out. He chuckled sheepishly, rubbing my shoulder.

"Alright now, let's stand up. No more sulking." Hurricane said.

"But sulking is fun." I whined.

"Let's get dinner."

"No."

"Why not? You always say no."

"Because we're barely friends. No offense, or anything." I explained. "Plus, everyone kinda hates us. The news will blow up if they find out we were off at dinner."

"Naturally," he muttered. "How 'bout we order a pizza?"

"I think your officially stupid." I said. "How would that work?"

"There's a pizza place like a block away. You stay here and I'll go pick one up, dressed normally of course. I'm a regular customer, so they'll know me."

"Oh course you are, fatty."

"That didn't hurt my feelings."

"Put some olives on my half."

Hurricane grumbled as we both got off the ground. He saluted me, before fading out of my vision. I stared at where he once stood, now alone with my thoughts. "Hello." Okay, so I'm not alone. I tensed, hearing the familiar voice of welcoming. "It's great to see you, Annabeth."

I spun around, coming face to face with Sally Jackson. I gaped at her, watching as she smiled sweetly at me. "Who knows how long Hurricane will be gone, and I don't want to be here when he gets back. We have a lot to discuss."

A/N: ! WE'VE GO PERCABETH! Well, technically. Cause you and I, we know that it's Percabeth. But they don't. I guess we'd call it Grey Shadow x Hurricane. What would that ship name be? Greicane? Hurradow?

We've also got some suspense for the next chapter (laughs evilly). Read and review!

See you Friday! (No sneak peak this time, not enough reviews!)

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo