A/N: ugh, going more than a little hyper active now cause there is less than 12 hours until I can go get my GCSE results to see if I got into my first choice college… I really hope I do. Anyway, answers to a the questions I got.

Guest: I actually have each chapter scrap written on a word doc, then, every day, I go thorough and add details and emotions to the skeletal structure it had before to make it more interesting

Stephen: Yes, I do read all of my reviews, but I already have each chapter worked out so, although I do appreciate constructive criticism, I'm not going to make dramatic changes to the plot unless I think it is really worth it.

So, that's all I think… on with the chapter

WARNING: This chapter has scenes of psychological and physical torture, just so you know.

After a rather awkward evening of being poked, prodded, jabbed with needles and then punching scientist in the eye, Nico and Percy finally managed to get away from the lab that had soon become a torture chamber for them, and into the guest room they had been forced into taking. Sighing, the son of the sea all but collapsed onto his bed, rubbing a particularly sore spot on his shoulder even as he stretched back on the luxurious quilt.

"Sweet mother of Zeus, that was horrible."

All he got in response was a grunt that could have meant anything from the direction where his cousin had slouched against the wall, with the younger boy's face hidden from his sight, Percy decided to take it as agreement. Of course, they could have reviled their powers and stopped the experiments there and then, but both boy's were far more scared of a furious Annabeth than of needles so they decided not to break this place. Now however, both boys were beginning to regret that decision.

"Nikki, can you tuck me into bed, its cold!"

Anticipating the response of the other boy, the hero of Olympus quickly rolled sideways just in time to miss the lunging body of his cousin, unfortunately, he rolled a little too far and ended up crashing to the floor, soon to be attacked by the son of Hades. In this way, the two boys released all of the stress they had been unable to get rid of before, fighting away until the early hours as neither of them wanted to sleep. After all, when the mind was free to wander, you could never tell where it was going to end up.

Unfortunately however, this form of entertainment could only keep them going for so long before both boys ended up slumped, unconscious, against opposite walls, and that was when the nightmares started.

All around Percy it was black, a harsh wind blowing against his bare torso chilled him to the bone, but he could not detect which direction it was coming from. He was alone, that much he knew. After a while, more senses began coming back to him, as though he was awakening from some lingering dream.

His hands were bound together, fastened to a coarse surface just above his head and making his shoulders scream in protest, it felt like they were supporting his full weight. As he noticed this, he began to struggle once again against his bonds but a searing pain flashed through his body with every jarred movement. Finally, he gave in to the pain and returned to hanging limply where he was, the warm trickle edging from his burning wrists sending shivers down his spine.

Next came the taste of copper, it filled his mouth to the point where he felt like he was going to gag on it, but , no matter how hard he tried, his mouth refused to open. Against his bruised and broken lips the rough material was like sand paper making him want to cry out, but confirming that the taste was in fact blood, though whether it was his own or not scared him.

Now the sounds of movement began to reach his ears and he could hear some muffled sobs coming from somewhere by his feet. So full of pain and loss were they that it made his heart break, and his swollen eyes fly open, though the sight before him did nothing but make him feel worse.

Down there, on the floor, curled up and deathly pale was Annabeth, though it looked more like a shade impersonating his girlfriend, after all, his wise girl was strong, beautiful, proud… not this poor, broken creature that lay before him.

Trying to look at anything but the illusion, his eyes caught the glimmer of crimson tracks that covered his chest, standing out a stark red against the snow white flesh and making him panic. It was not his blood, that much he was sure of, but if there were no wounds to cause this, where had the liquid come from.

Noticing his return to consciousness, a figure moved in the corner of the dark room, moving from the shadows into the faint ring of light cast by a single spluttering candle, though the being seemed to darken its feeble attempts at illumination even more. Seeing the face of his captor, Percy instinctively flinched away, gasping out when the movement tore open freshly healed scabs on his back but he could not help it, after 5 days of this unrelenting 'revenge' the reaction had become instinctual, something that pleased Kronos to no end.

"Ah, finally beginning to learn who is in charge here then Mr Jackson, now I must say that is good news."

The Titan stepped even closer, so close in fact that Percy could smell his dank breath on his cheek, but the teen held his gaze steady and full of hatred, the only form defiance he could still muster in his current situation. But, as always, that was never the right thing to do. Quick as lightning, the immortal's face darkened and a resounding crack filled the room as Percy slumped forwards, his neck aching from the force of the blow.

"Oh well, it seems I overestimated your learning capabilities, no matter, we can soon go back to the teaching. But first, tell me, after that last session, your throat must be really parched, I dare say that you are simply dying for a drink, no?"

At this, Kronos pulled out a golden goblet from somewhere in his sleeve and the demigod instantly felt sick. Every day, once a day, the titan would do this, he would ask Percy if he wanted a drink and then he would proceed to the most horrifying part of the 'lessons' as he put it.

Moving with the grace only an immortal could muster, the titan of time made his way towards the whimpering girl on the floor before pulling her to her feet by dragging at the roots of her hair. Once he had the daughter of Athena standing, he took a firm grip of her wrist before slicing it open with a hidden blade he carried, catching the warm streams in the golden cup before making heading back to where Percy was hanging on the wall, leaving her to bleed out on the floor.

The first time his grandfather had done this, Percy had nurtured the brief hope that Annabeth would die from blood lost, die and get away from the pain that was being inflicted on her every waking moment, but that was part of the curse of Tartarus, there was no escape, not even in death. Any fatal wound would immediately heal itself, but the pain was still there.

While he had been daydreaming, the horrid gag had been removed from Percy's lips, but he would have given anything for the offending piece of cloth to have remained in place because now it had been replaced by the brim of a sparkling cup that sloshed forwards, adding to the red rivulets that ran down his front.

"How does it feel Percy? To know that you are the one that is causing her such pain? Doesn't it just break your heart that she ended up like this? I wonder how she will ever look at you again. Do you think she will hate you? Scorn you? Want to kill you with her own hands?"

As he spoke, the titan grasped the demigod's hair and pulling sharply back, causing him to gasp in pain. That one brief moment was all that his tormenter needed, forcing the cool metal between his lips and pouring the hot liquid down his throat. Although he tried to hold his breath for as long as possible, it was no use and soon the demigod was drowning, gasping for air…

"…up! Hey, kid, WAKE UP!"

Percy's eyes snapped open and his hand instinctively reached for riptide, a part of him thinking that he was still down in the pit, still with Kronos and his endless 'lessons' but the concerned blue eyes of the man in front of him soon reminded the demigod of his surroundings and he allowed himself to fall limply against the floor once again, his heart hammering against his ribs.

"Hey, kid, you alright? You were thrashing like crazy there, and screaming like you were having your toenails ripped out."

The weak attempt at humour wasn't much, but Percy forced himself to laugh, the same way that he pushed the memories to the back of his mind and willed his pulse to slow. Before long, he was able to face the soldier who had slipped down to sit beside him, recognising him as Steve Rodgers, the man lost in time.

"Man that was a lame joke, but yeah, it was just a dream, I'm fine."

"Must have been one Hell of a nightmare to have you in that state, when you woke up I thought that you had gone insane for a moment there. What was it about?"

This reminder caused Percy to flinch away from the man who was trying so hard to be friendly, making him shut down so that it was with a dead voice that he responded, making the super soldier look round with concern in his eyes yet again.

"Nothing, it was just a dream after all."

For a moment, Captain America was silent, thinking through his next words carefully so as to bring the boy out of his shell once again. As much as he had mistrusted the kids when they had first appeared claiming to be half immortal, he could not help but feel sorry for the child beside him. Although the son of Poseidon had seemed so deadly and in control in the meeting this morning, the kid beside him could hardly be recognised as the same person, what with his madly shaken limbs and terrified expression. That, combined with the fact that Percy had been screaming like a man possessed when he had come running, was enough to pull at the older man's heart strings, making him desperately want to help in some way.

"You know, I never really put much stock in dreams, but I saw one of you guys the other night, that's why I was so shocked this morning."

This seemed to have caught the boy's attention as his head whipped round, eyes shining with confusion.

"What happened in it?"

His response shocked the soldier, he had expected the kid to laugh it off, not respond with a voice that was deadly serious. It was because he was unsettled that Steve actually blurted out the first thing on his mind instead of thinking first.

"Why are you taking it so seriously? It was just a dream, you said so yourself earlier, it doesn't really matter!"

At his words, the half blood began shaking his head, looking like a dog that was trying to shake itself dry.

"Not for us. To demigods, dreams are prophetic so we never ignore them, what did you see?"

The frank honesty surprised Steve once again and he leaned back against the wall, tilting his head back so that he was staring up at the ceiling when he next spoke.

"I saw hundreds of kids in armour arranged on a mountain, it looked like they were getting ready to battle. They you and that girl, Annabeth, came out and you spoke to them, giving them a speech and telling them to rest before an attack. You both looked horrible."

The soldier had expected the boy to find it disturbing or amusing, he had expected him to shake it off, not nod his head as though he remembered that very scenario.

"That was the morning before the last battle, Annabeth and I had only just made it back to the army. It was the day that we finally won that wretched war."

Although shock was coursing through his system at this new piece of information, Captain Rodgers turned back to the child of the seas, noting the mad light that had appeared in his ally's eyes once again. Unable to stop himself, he found his mouth asking the next question without his permission.

"You looked like the leaders of that army, so why had you just got back to it, where had you been before?"

At this, the boy turned to him, a coldness similar to the dead in his eyes and when he spoke, his words were void of any emotion, good or bad. Quite frankly, it scared the soldier almost as much as the words themselves.

"In hell."

There we go, I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to ask away!