A/N: Hey! I know a lot of you guys wanted me to do Leo next, but I just couldn't come up with his yet. I recently wrote a MONSTER one-shot that was Leo-centric (17,000 words) so if you're a fan of Leo and you need some Leo right now, go check that out. I will get Leo's done, it will just be closer to the end.

Anyway, I could totally see this happen down in Tartarus (this is Percy's if you haven't guessed) or something like this. My time frame for this is probably pushing it a lot, but I liked it like this anyway.

And the countdown continues! HoH here we come!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

Percy knew things had been better.

If things had happened the way they were supposed to, right now he would be back in New York, celebrating at Camp Half-Blood and maybe his mom's apartment. Tonight, he would be taking Annabeth out for dinner and a walk on the beach. They would be a lot closer than they actually were, and things were bound to have been serious.

But no. On his seventeenth birthday, he was in hell. Literally.

Time was weird down in Tartarus. Percy knew they fell sometime at the first of July, and now, here it was. August. He supposed the whole time concept meant nothing when you were down here, but somehow, Percy knew it was his birthday today.

Beside him, Annabeth moaned and tightened her grip on his hand. She had so many wounds; Percy couldn't count them all, much less try to heal them. They had run out of ambrosia almost as soon as they got down here, and of course there wasn't any more.

"Hey," Percy said softly, pulling her closer to him and taking even more of her weight. "Let's find somewhere to stop and rest for a few minutes."

She didn't answer.

Percy was extremely worried about her. She was the one who was leading them through Tartarus, but she was about to crack under the stress. All of the worry that she had possessed for the last few months had come back to haunt her, and Percy knew that she wasn't handling it well. She was trying to stay strong, if only for him, but Percy could see the tears that would slip out of her eyes.

It scared him. This whole thing was scaring him. He just wanted to go back to Camp Half-Blood and live happily ever after with Annabeth! Was that too much to freaking ask for?

It obviously must have been because here he was, doing more work for the gods.

Percy spotted a rock and a ledge in a dark corner that didn't seem to be too far away. He gripped Annabeth's waist and hurriedly stumbled over to it.

It was oddly quiet right now. For the past month that they had been down here, there had been so many monster attacks. Percy had fought off more monsters down here than he ever had in his entire life, and oh man, he was so tired.

"Okay, I think we have a few minutes." Percy said as he lowered Annabeth onto the ground carefully. He tried to avoid all of her injuries, but she winced anyway.

Percy sat down beside her and automatically curved around her and tightened his fingers on her hand. He had managed to only let go of her a few times, and the less that he had to, the better.

"Get some sleep." He whispered into her ear. "I'll take watch first."

Annabeth shook her head. "I can't sleep down here. Just talk to me."

Percy frowned. She really needed to get some sleep, but she was probably right about not being able to.

"Okay. What's green and has wheels?" Percy asked. Maybe some jokes would help cheer her up.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but Percy was glad to see that she was holding back a smile. He hadn't seen her smile in a really long time. "I said talk to me, not tell me jokes."

"This is only the first part of the conversation. Green and has wheels." Percy said, nudging her gently.

"A lawn mower."

Percy hid a grin. "Nope. Grass. I was just kidding about the wheels." He said cheekily. He knew that she hated anti-jokes.

Percy didn't need to watch her face to see her roll her eyes.

They both fell into silence, and Percy pulled Annabeth even closer into his lap. There was no way he was going to ever be able to let go of her again without thinking it could be the last time he touched her, which probably meant he wouldn't be letting go of her too often. He didn't think Annabeth would have a problem with that though because she was just as bad (if not worse) about being close to him.

Annabeth was sitting in his lap. She had one of her arms wrapped around his middle, with her hand under his shirt pressed to the small of his back where his Achilles spot used to be. It still felt ridiculously good to him, and he doubted that he would ever want her to stop. Her other arm was tangled with his, grasping his hand with hers. Her head was pressed into his neck.

She lifted her head up, and Percy found himself staring into her incredibly beautiful gray eyes. She looked a little more worried than normal as she stared at him.

Percy had to speak first. "What's wrong, Wise Girl?"

"I can't remember what Thalia looks like." She said brokenly.

He flinched at how worried and panicked her voice sounded. "Yes you can. You just need a reminder. She's shorter than both of us, and she has black spiky hair. Her eyes are blue, just like Jason's. She loves you." Percy said gently.

"I want to go home."

On every single quest they had ever been on together, Percy had never heard her say those words out loud before. Annabeth was a fighter. She always found her way (their way most of the time) back home.

But this time, she was broken. She had already given all she could, and she had fallen apart somewhere along the way without Percy being able to pick up the pieces.

He swore that someone was going to pay for this. He just wasn't sure who it would be yet.

"I know, Annabeth. We're going to get home, I know we are." Percy said to her, pulling her back to cradle her against his body.

She clutched at his torn and bloody shirt, and buried her face against him so he couldn't see her tears.

Percy rocked her back and forth until her breathing deepened just enough for her to sleep.

He looked down to study his girlfriend of one year.

Her face was covered in scratches, and her hair was a rat's nest. It still had some spider webs in it, and Percy was sure that some of it had started to fall out. Her left cheekbone was bruised black and blue from her ear down to her jaw.

Percy thought she had never been more beautiful.

He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers, and when he pulled back, he whispered, "Happy anniversary, Annabeth."

A/N: Alright. Give me some thoughts on this. Let me know what you're thinking!

-SomethingMoreCreative