Okay so it has been forever, but I think you guys will like this one! Let me know what you think at the end!

Annabeth hadn't gotten much sleep after Percy left, but that left her with a lot of time to think. Sure Percy was a bad guy, but he wasn't really a "bad guy." She still wasn't sure that she was going to put up with all of this mob bullshit, but she decided that she could put up with Percy. As a friend. And only a friend. She was still only eighteen.

While she knew she had promised that she would only eat the food in case of emergency, Annabeth seriously debated just having a small snack and skipping breakfast. But she hadn't been eating enough as a form of punishment, so she decided that it was better to go down to the kitchen and get food. Praying no one was there was the best she could do.

Getting up from her bed Annabeth started getting ready for the day. What does one wear to have a formal breakfast with members of the mob? Members that may or may not have killed people last night. The other people in this house were nothing like her, and that probably scared Annabeth more than marriage ever could. She was never one to get in trouble at school. She listened to rules and turned in everything on time, so being around people that probably got expelled was something completely new to her.

She decided that breakfast with the felons probably only required a t-shirt and jeans, but she still didn't want to push her luck. Instead she put on her nice jeans and a pretty cardigan that made her look taller. Look good feel good right? Annabeth decided that she needed all the help she could get, even if it was just some cheap cotton.

With one final glance in the mirror she decided to head down. Nudging Sadie out of the way Annabeth was able to slip out the door and keep the stupid cat in. While she knew that Sadie was a cat and probably had a brain the size of a walnut, she was always amazed by the cat's inability to catch on. She hadn't been let out of the room ever, yet she still tried to escape. Today was not her lucky day.

The hallway was just as she had remembered it from the night before, but it felt like a completely different place. It was like the house had changed since the little war, but she knew it hadn't, she just saw it differently now. She wasn't sure if she felt more or less safe, but she knew she was feeling something different. Annabeth decided to think more on that later.

She made sure to walk slowly toward the kitchen so she could hear if anything was going on. Percy wasn't going to give her all the details, but eavesdropping might. As long as no one knew she was there she wasn't really doing any harm. However, there was no one out. The whole place was dead silent, and it was sort of unnerving. A mansion with no people? Sounds like something straight out of a horror movie.

Annabeth made it to the foyer and stopped. This place had been filled with people the night before, but now the large space was empty. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting to see. Maybe some blood and guts, lots of guns, and for sure a body, but none of that was there. The white tile had been completely cleaned and all wreckage had been completely picked up. The only sign that there had been any fighting last night was the occasional bullet hole still noticeable in the wall. She guessed they hadn't had time to patch that up last night.

Walking down the stairs was the most surreal part. She was in the same place she was last night, but this time no one was there and no one was trying to kill her. Instead she was all alone left to reflect on what she had been through the night before. Witnessing a gun fight was not something that she thought that she would ever do, but as she had been learning a lot lately, life can change very quickly. And often you have absolutely no say in it.

Walking quickly through the foyer Annabeth decided that she was the only one out and about, so she quickly made her way to the kitchen. Boy was that a mistake. Barging into the kitchen Annabeth can face to face with about 15 people, none of which she recognized. Quickly scanning the room she noticed that Percy wasn't there, and that meant that no one was going to introduce her.

All 15 pairs of eye turned to look at the intruder in their space, and Annabeth had a serious debate on whether it would just be better to run. But she had promised herself that she was going to try and be at least a little bit nice to Percy, and that started with trying to get to know his family. Well the people he called his family at least. So she took the first step, "Hi, I'm Annabeth."

Everyone in the room just continued to stare at her. No one said anything and no one moved. Annabeth decided that staying frozen was probably her best option too, so she made no move. She wasn't quite sure how long it had been when one of the girls spoke up, "we know."

That was it. No introductions. No name games. Not even a "nice to meet you." Annabeth just awkwardly nodded and went to grab some food from the fridge. "What are you doing?" the same voice asked her.

"Um getting some food?" Annabeth answered turning to look at the girl. She was tall, taller than Annabeth was. She had dark brown hair that was cut short to frame her face. She was cute in the "I'm going to hurt you" kind of way, and Annabeth didn't know how she felt about that, but they looked close to the same age and Annabeth just really wanted someone to talk to.

"No you're not. That's our food," the girl said getting closer. This was the point when Annabeth realized that it was in fact not nice to meet her, and maybe running would have been a better option.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know. If you tell me where the food I can make is I'll head over there," Annabeth added timidly. Normally Annabeth didn't back down from a fight. At school she was pretty much known for calling people out on their bullshit, but this wasn't school and there was a good chance this girl had a weapon on her.

"There isn't any food for you. This isn't your house. You aren't one of us. This is our food and you don't belong, so honestly I don't care where you eat. The trash is out back. I guess that would do." Annabeth just stared there and blinked for a minute. She swore she saw a few of the people behind the girl open their mouths to say something, but then close them. Looks like she is on her own.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what I did to you. I don't even know you, so I'm not quite sure what I could have possibly done to piss you off this much. Honestly this is just rude," Annabeth knew that she was walking on a wire, but her temper got the best of her. If there was one thing to never mess with it was Annabeth's pride.

That's when the girl lunged. Annabeth was not expecting that. She was overrun in a matter of seconds and the girl had her against the wall. She had obviously been trained in fighting, and Annabeth had not. Annabeth fought against her, but there was nothing she could do. The girl had her arm to her throat and her knee to her stomach. Any movements and the girl could knock the wind out of her.

"You don't know what you've done?" The girl roared in her face. At this point Annabeth was looking for help from the other people in the room, but none was coming. "I'll tell you what you've done. You show up here all high and mighty like you are better than us. We can all feel you judging us you know? Then you go up to that dumbass room and refuse to come out. You want to talk about rude? Well you fucking started it," the girl growled. Every sentence was punctuated with her arm digging a little further into Annabeth's neck.

"You disrespect Percy, which no one should ever do, even though he put his ass on the line to save your pathetic one. Then we all getting into some fucking fire fight over you. Like what the fuck?" Having a girl yelling in your face is never pleasant, but having one do it while you can't breathe is so much worse. By this point Annabeth was barely able to get any air in, and even that was diminishing. Annabeth had been clawing at her neck, but nothing seemed to be helping.

"We put our asses on the line for you, and you never even had the respect to come introduce yourself to us. But there's my family, out on the line getting shot at to protect some girl that sits there and berates us. That's my family getting hurt, and you don't even care!" Annabeth was going to pass out. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She faintly heard someone telling the girl to stop, but it was only answered with more screams, "No! I won't stop! I hope I kill her!"

Annabeth's eyes had just started to close when she heard it. "Thalia stop!" the voice roared from somewhere out of Annabeth's eyesight. "Stop!" There it was again, but it did little to stop her. Closing her eyes again Annabeth was almost positive she made it up.

"Thalia what the fuck is wrong with you?" the voice boomed closer this time. Then suddenly she could breathe. Annabeth fell to all fours gasping for breath, but it didn't seem like enough. She could feel people moving around her, but she wasn't sure if it was to help her or to go to the girl, Thalia. Annabeth snuck a quick glance at the scene around her, and was surprised. Percy was over in the corner pinning Thalia to the wall, and it looked like he was yelling at her. Annabeth couldn't hear though, there was too much blood rushing in her ears.

The other people in the room had either dispersed or were sitting in the same spots they had been the whole time. No one was moving other than Percy, and that was not something she was going to get in the middle of. It didn't help that she still couldn't fully breathe. The one thing Annabeth did notice though was that not a single person in the room had moved to help her. She had almost died, and not a single person in the room was concerned about that.

Annabeth acknowledged that she wasn't the nicest person up until this point, but it wasn't like she had hurt any of them. She had done no harm, and this was what happened. She should have just stayed in her room. She should have never tried to work it out with Percy. She should have just followed her gut and known this wasn't going to work out. If Annabeth had learned one thing that morning it was that she was never being nice to these people again. All she did this time was say hi and it almost cost her her life. She needed to leave.

That was when she noticed it. Standing across the room from Annabeth was a door that lead the what looked like the back yard. About 30 yards from the door a forest started, and she was sure that once she was in that she could get away. Plus it wasn't like like anyone was really paying attention to her anyway. All she had to do was make it out the door.

So slowly Annabeth moved to stand. She still couldn't fully breathe, and she knew she wouldn't be able to for a while. Her throat would be bruised for weeks. Annabeth stumbled for the door all while praying that no one saw her, or if someone did they didn't care enough to stop her.

Annabeth made it to the door and took a quick glance back. Percy was still yelling at Thalia, and the others were more focused on that than they were her. So she made her escape. Annabeth half ran half wobbled out the back door onto the grass. She quickly covered the ground the the forest, and was immersed within seconds. This was it. This was her only chance at survival, and if she didn't make it far enough they were going to catch her. Annabeth may have made it through the last two assassination attempts, but she was pretty sure the third would be by Percy himself, and well the third time's the charm.

She wasn't sure how long she stumbled around the forest, but she just had to hope that it was long enough. Soon her eyes were watering and the world around her started to spin, but if Annabeth learned anything from her books it was that you should never hide out in the open. So she made her way around for a short time longer until she found a small animal den she could crash in. All she could do was hope that the animal was nice enough to share. So there Annabeth stayed: starving, unconscious, and barely breathing.

And there it is! What did you guys think? I personally thought it was a bit intense, but hey I had to go there at some point. So I can't decide if I want to do the next chapter focusing on Percy or Annabeth. What do you guys think? Let me know what you want and what you thought of this chapter in the comments!

Emily