Hey guys!

I'm sorry for taking a long time to update. I was having a bad case of writer's block, and I was busy. This chapter gets things moving along. I enjoyed writing this chapter because of the events that happen.

Now, let's get to the story. Enjoy the chapter and review!

AT THE TRAINING CENTER

I started the plane up, letting the engine roar to life. Annabeth jumped a little by the loud noise of the machine. I stepped onto the ledge of the plane, reaching out my hand for her grab. She looked at me then the flying machine in front of her. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that she was actually considering going with me.

"Come on, Anna. There's nothing to worry about." I grinned.

"Are you sure this is okay? I mean, would you get in trouble for letting me fly with you?" she asked.

I laughed. "Depends on the circumstances. That's why you need to hurry up and let us get into the air so they don't see you. But I doubt that anyone would be here at this time of day."

Annabeth laughed and grabbed my hand. I pulled her up into the plane and sat down in the front seat. She sat down on my lap, burying her face in the crook of my neck. I chuckled and grabbed the controllers, letting the plane go on the runway. She laughed as the plane lifted off the ground and her head left my neck as we began to soar through the sky. Annabeth was caught off guard when she saw the sun setting behind the ocean borderline.

"Oh my god! It's so beautiful." Annabeth said, smiling.

I grinned. "This is one of the many reasons I love being a pilot. You get to see... things that you normally couldn't. Some of the things are pretty horrifying and graphic, which most people don't really want to see, but then there is the insanely beautiful things that you get to see, and very few people get to live to see them."

"What do you mean?" she asked as we soared through the clouds and the skyline.

I sighed. "I mean, like some of our warriors last moments... they got to see the sun rise or set, and their eyes would just widen in amazement. It was like that was their first time seeing it all over again."

"Flying into peril and war, is it as scary as everyone thinks it is? Do you have any worries?"

"It depends. When I get into my plane, I think about my mom. She's in New York while I'm here, fighting in the war that we should of already won. I just wonder what I would be doing if I wasn't here... flying or-" I looked over at her. "Or with a gorgeous nurse."

Annabeth looked over her shoulder to look at me and she smiled. "Thank you, but I'm not as pretty or gorgeous- as you say- as Silena and Clarisse and Thalia."

"Do explain." I said smiling at her.

She laughed softly before giving me a small smile and turned to look out the window of the plane. I grabbed the controllers and made sure the plane flied sturdier. I wanted to make this flight be as memorable as it could be. Annabeth leaned her forehead against the glass, letting her eyes stare at the clear, open sky.

I rested my hand on her upper arm, making her flinch and turn around, her eyes glancing into mine.

"Are you okay?" I asked, leaning my head against the back of the seat. I could still reach the controllers easily as possible and look out the windows in case of a emergency or just to stare at the sunset.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I just- I just realized that I haven't called my dad in a really long time."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She lifted her hand and ran her hand across her cheeks, wiping any tears that she expected me not to see. "Um, no, I'm okay. I just need some water, that's all, but I reckon there's none in here."

"I have a water bottle. I've drunk out of it, but it still fresh." I reached down, grabbed the bottle, and held it out for her.

She hesitated, but then grabbed the bottle. I smiled at her and grabbed the controllers, slowly bringing us to a slow and steady flight. She drunk the water like she's been dehydrated all of this time and took the top of it from her mouth. Annabeth tilted the bottle towards me, asking me with her eyes if I wanted any. I shook my head 'no' and I flipped the main switch on above me.

I brought the plane close to the training area and onto the runway like a piece of cake. I drove the plane into its resting spot before shutting the engine off. I reached up and un-hitched the glass overhead and jumped down onto the railing of the plane. Annabeth stepped out next to me, using my shoulder as a leverage.

I jumped down onto the ground and lifted my right hand for her to grab so she could get down. I smiled at her as she slid her hand into mine. Annabeth tried jumping down but her feet slipped out from under her and she almost fell down onto the concrete. I reached out and grabbed her by the waist, making sure that she didn't smash her face on the plane's wing or anything.

Annabeth gasped, grabbing my arms as I caught her. "Thanks."

"No problem." I said.

She stood on her own two feet. "Um, thank you for tonight. It was really fun."

"Again, not a problem." I smiled, staring into her intense grey eyes. "Would you like to do it again sometime? I'm sure my plane would have no problem with it." I teased.

Annabeth laughed softly. "Um, I'm guessing the plane isn't the only one having no problem with it."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, my arms still wrapped around her waist. It felt right, like I was made to keep my arms wrapped around her.

"No, but you're smiling like you just won a million dollars. I'm guessing you liked my company."

I shrugged, grinning. "Well, your guess is correct."

Annabeth's face broke out into a large smile. Our eyes locked with each other, and I could of stayed that way forever, but she had to get home. She had to wake up early for some patients coming in at seven-thirty at the hostipal. I just stayed at the training center, staring up at the nighttime sky, looking at the million different stars up in the darkness.

I watched as a shooting star flew across the midnight sky. I stayed awake a little bit longer, before falling asleep.

THE NEXT DAY

"Hand me that screwdriver."

I held the wire in my hands as Beckendorf went over to the toolbox and grabbed the screwdriver. He handed me the tool and I started to fix the plane's engine. I pulled the wire back into the slot and wrapped the band around it, putting the screws into their places. Beckendorf gave me the wrench and took away the screwdriver as I tightened the six bolts that held it place.

My white sleeve-less shirt had grease and oil stains from being under the plane and fixing its engine. I stood up straight and wiped the sweat off my forehead. I looked over at Beckendorf who was bringing me a rag to dry my face.

"What do you think?" I asked. "Does it need any more tightening?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I say the engine is done, but the tires need fixed."

"New tires?" I breathed out heavily.

He nodded. "Yep. I have three new tires right over here."

"Let me at them." I said, slamming the cover to the engine. I tightened the last bolt before throwing the wrench into the toolbox.

Beckendorf and I pulled the old tires off the plane, and attached the three new ones. We took a few steps back and looked at the plane. This isn't the one that had the engine blow up. This one had a few minor problems, but Beckendorf and I got them done within the hour.

I climbed onto the ledge of the plane and leaned against the body. He grabbed two water bottles from the small fridge and threw one to me. The water felt good on my throat.

"Hey, so what did Annabeth think about the sunset last night?" he asked, smirking before taking a drink.

I chuckled. "It went pretty good. I mean, she had a good time, but something was bothering her about her dad."

"Ah, Silena tells me not to worry about it, whenever I come pick her up. She says that Annabeth would sometimes get like that. Her parents live in San Francisco while she's here."

I raised an eyebrow and took another drink. "No offense or anything, but does Silena talk about everybody and everyone, but herself?"

Beckendorf laughed and shook his head. "If she has nothing to talk about, she'll talk about other people, but not in the bad way. She'll talk about the pain they lived through or talk about her patients she saw that day. I feel bad for them. They see people die every day and it effects their lives just as much as ours."

"When did you become so soft, Becky?" I teased, sitting down on the ledge.

He gave a smal laugh then we went back to serious. "I mean, think about it. Silena, Annabeth, and the others see patients die every day. We see them die every once in a while."

I took a sip of my water and wiped my mouth. "I'm just glad that they don't see what we see. I remember the last person I saw die here. It was that new kid, um... Robby. He was in battle and the enemy blew his plane up. I watched it happen and I shot down the person that killed him."

"Yeah, we see some pretty intense injuries or deaths." Beckendorf leaned against the wing of the plane as I sat above him.

"Hey, yo, Percy!" someone yelled from the opening of the plane shop.

I looked over and laughed when I saw Nico, with black dust all over his face. He ran over to me as Beckendorf and I pointed at him and couldn't stop laughing.

"What happened to you?" I asked, in between laughs.

Nico frowned. "My plane doesn't like me, at all."

"I should of guessed that your plane did that. You never had a good relationship with that machine." Beckendorf said.

I high-fived him and looked over at my little cousin. "Nico, when will you learn to not get that plane mad or it will spit grease in your face?"

"I thought I learned it already, but I guess not."

"Apparently." I said, taking another drink of my H2O.

Nico rolled his eyes and pointed at me. "Anyways, I didn't come here to get laughed at, but you know that girl you went out with yesterday?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, she's here and asking for you." he finished.

I couldn't stop the smile from appearing off my face. "Where is she?"

"Um, I told Luke to keep her busy until I found out where you were. I guess I'll run back and send her in here."

I nodded as Nico ran off back into the sunlight. Beckendorf sat on the wing of the plane, drinking the rest of his water. I still sat on the ledge of the plane, now waiting for Annabeth to come. I was wondering though: what was she doing here?

I was resting my head on the body of the machine when I heard Nico start shuffling in. I looked over to where he was and my head lifted up when I saw Annabeth standing behind him, her curly, blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. Beckendorf walked over to Nico, fist-pounded him, and put an arm around his shoulders, leaving us alone in the plane shelter.

I stood up to my full height and jumped down, throwing my water bottle away in the trash-can next to me. I walked over to the toolbox and started putting the tools away when I felt a hand rest on my lower back. Volts of eletricity went shooting up my spine from her touch. I turned around and took her hand in mine, leaning against the table where the tools lay.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, pulling her closer to me.

Annabeth smiled and allowed herself to be close. "I needed to ask you something. More like I need you to me a favor."

"What is it?"

She bit her lip. "There's this dinner party that all the nurses are invited to for our hard work. And I wanted to ask if you could come with me, like, to be my date."

I looked into her grey eyes. "When is it?"

"Um, tomorrow night. I know it's short notice, but we got the invitations today at work. I didn't even know about it until today."

"No need to explain." I teased.

Annabeth looked down, but I tilted her chin up to stare into her eyes. "So, what do you say?"

"No problem. I haven't been to a dinner party unless you count having a small gourmet breakfast with friends, then no." I chuckled.

She smiled. "Thank you so much. Now, I don't have to ask my jerk ex-boyfriend."

"That would be hard."

"Exactly."

I intertwined her fingers with mine. "Can I ask you something though?" she nodded. "How come you asked me instead of... anyone else?"

"I didn't know anyone else that would actually do it for me. I was going to ask my half-brother, Malcolm, but he left a few weeks ago to go back home with our mother." Annabeth said. "So, it was impossible to ask him on such short notice. I decided to go through the small list of guys I know, and I picked you. You seemed like the kind of guy that would do anything for anybody."

I grinned. "You're right."

"Thank you, again. It means a lot to me."

"No problem. I don't mind. I actually have nothing to do tomorrow, besides help Beckendorf fix the engine that he exploded." I laughed.

Annabeth smiled while laughing. "Should I ask what happened?"

"Not really."

"All right, then."

I stood back on my feet, standing in front of her. "What time should I pick you up?"

"Around... seven-ish?" she asked.

I grinned. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow night at seven."

"Okay. Thanks again, Percy." she said, giving me a smile before turning around and walking off. I watched her until I couldn't see her anymore. I leaned back onto the table and the smile wouldn't leave my face.

What do you think will happen at the dinner party? Do you think that Annabeth likes Percy or does she think of him as a friend?

Review and you'll get the next chapter! I would really love it if we could make it to hundred reviews. I would love you guys even more than I already do.

-HunterofArtemis32