A/N: Please R&R! Thanks!

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What would you say
if I
told you that all I've thought about
is you
since you been gone?
I wish some way, some how
I could turn this world right back around
and mend mistakes I made.

So I could say to you that
I know things aren't quite like what they used to be
different faces, different places yeah.
We could try, oh yeah we could try.

We Could Try ~ Between the Trees

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Annabeth splashed cold water on her face in the bathroom, sending a jolt to her system. As she gazed into the mirror, she realized how different she appeared. Now, at the age of nineteen, her face had lost all of its girlishness. Her visage looked haggard, with dark circles that resembled bruises beneath her eyes. Her face was scratched from her latest mission; it looked like she had gotten into a fight with an angry cat in a rosebush. Annabeth dipped a washcloth into the sink. She carefully pressed it against her face, wincing as she did. When finished, she hung up the washcloth and half-heartedly pulled her fingers through her tangled blonde hair. Sighing, she pushed open the bathroom door and returned to the main room.

"Annabeth?" Thalia inquired, looking up from a map. "Are you okay?"

She was clothed in a pair of faded, ripped jeans that needed washing and a tee-shirt with some little-known band's logo emblazoned on the front. Her blue eyes were penetrating. Thalia had that concerned look on her face again. Obviously, she could tell that Annabeth had been thinking of Percy again.

"I…I'm alright," was Annabeth's reply. It did her no good to dwell on the past.

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FLASHBACK

Annabeth stood with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She looked up to the smoldering sky in disbelief.

"How can this be happening!?" she thought.

Olympus, and the rest of New York, for that matter, was in flames. She had barely made it out of Olympus alive. All around her, people were running around screaming in terror and panic. But, in the distance, through the smoke, she could make out one figure in particular. A boy, with jet-black hair, was sprinting through the streets, pushing aside people in his wake.

"Percy!" Annabeth shrieked. "Wait!" He didn't stop running until he reached a burning building, his apartment complex, with Annabeth right on his heels.

"What are you doing?!" Annabeth yelled.

"What do you think?! I have to save my mom and Paul!" he exclaimed.

"Let me come with you!"

"No! I don't want you to get hurt." Percy reached for Annabeth's hand, but she pulled away from him.

"Please…" Annabeth trailed. But Percy just gazed at her sorrowfully with his vivid sea green eyes and entered the burning building…

END FLASHBACK

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"Are you sure you're alright?" Thalia asked again.

Annabeth snapped to attention. "I would feel better if we did something productive, like if we went on another mission or something."

"But we just did…you know that we have to lay low for a while, okay?"

"Yeah, I know." Annabeth was a little miffed. An awkward silence followed.

Fortunately, Nico, Connor, and Clarisse entered the room, followed by a girl with flaming red hair, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

"We have supplies," Clarisse announced. They were all carrying bags loaded with food, first aid supplies, and other necessities.

"Yeah, we filched the stuff from a Duane Reade up on Fifth," Connor proclaimed, with a doofy grin on his face.

Since Connor was a son of Hermes, his skill set was perfect for procuring necessary items. Not that they were proud of stealing things, but if anyone of the ImPercinators entered a public place, they had to be careful to avoid various monsters. So, occasionally, they broke into stores after hours.

Thalia rolled her eyes at Connor as she was unpacking the stolen goods. She was the unofficial leader of their rebel group, She fitted the part, so a tacit agreement was made amongst the sifted through all of the food. There was enough supplies to for a few months - if things were rationed. Their new life was not very easy at all.

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Annabeth did not sleep well that night. She woke up extremely early, with a crick in her neck. She stretched and yawned in a very unladylike manner. There were no beds, only sleeping bags laid on the floor in one of the rooms adjacent to the common room area. To her left, Thalia was snoring quietly, her spiky black hair in disarray. Clarisse was asleep next to her, facing the wall. However, Rachel's sleeping bag was empty. Annabeth rolled her neck in an attempt to get rid of the cramp and went to find her.

In the main room, Rachel was sitting at the rickety table. Her head was bowed over her sketchbook, with her flaming tresses shielding her face from view like a fiery mantle. Rachel was so intent on her sketch that she didn't notice Annabeth approach. When she did, about a minute later, her head snapped up. Rachel blinked a couple of times, causing her eyes to refocus.

"Well?" Annabeth questioned. "What did you draw?"

Rachel's facial expression was alarming; her mouth was agape, and, with her eyes wide, she looked a little eccentric. She said nothing, but handed Annabeth her sketchbook.

On it was a picture of Percy.

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A/N: Well? What did you guys think about my story so far? Let me know! Thanks for the reviews Legolas Thranduilion and pineconeface711! Please review with your theories, thoughts and concerns! I like to hear what you all have to say! Thanks!