It was morning by the time I pulled Annabeth onto the beach. Watching as the sun floated up into a blue, cloudless sky.

Annabeth was unconscious, and her clothes were tattered. Her skin had abandoned its original tan for a paler hue. I lifted her arm, watching as it fell gently back to the ground.

"S-she's not dead… is she?" I whispered, turning around. Grover surveyed from the water–at a distance, staring at me with an accusing expression.

"Hard to say." He muttered with a scowl. "Humans are really fragile." He glanced up at the sun, which was climbing higher wit's every passing minute. "Percy, we should really go now. Your dad is going to be out of his mind with worry."

I waved him off, leaning over Annabeth again. "I'm not leaving until I know she's okay."

Grover sighed in frustration. "Percy…"

"No! I'm not going to leave her."

Grover huffed, but we both knew there was nothing he could do that would make me budge. When I was this stubborn, the best thing to do was to make sure I stayed out of trouble.

Thinking hard over my lessons, I trailed my fingers along Annabeth's neck until I found her main artery. Her pulse was strong, despite her fickle appearance. Touching her, gave me a humming sensation, that raced up my arm. As I moved my hand lower, to her ribs, the humming intensified. There was water in her lungs. Now that was something I could fix.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on Annabeth. I felt the water bending to my will, and within a matter of seconds, she was coughing furiously, water spewing from her mouth.

I heard Grover suck in a sharp breath. "Percy!" He hissed in warning. I knew what he was trying to tell me; Annabeth would be awake soon. If she saw me, I'd be in huge trouble. But I wasn't leaving her, not yet.

"AROOF!"

The excited barking of a dog broke the silence. My head jerked up, and I barely had time to react before a wall of black bowled me over.

Over the familiar slobber treatment, and the happy barking, I was slightly aware of Grover shouting in panic.

"Percy!" He yelled. "Get out of there!"

"WOOF! WOOF!" The black wall of fur answered.

I laughed despite myself. This was Annabeth's dog, the one she had saved from the ship. What was her name again? Mrs. O'Leary?

"Mrs. O'Leary!" A new voice called. "Where are you girl?"

"WOOF!"

Someone was approaching. I could hear their footsteps getting closer. In panic, I tried to roll away, but Mrs. O'Leary had two big paws on my chest, and she didn't seem too keen on letting me up.

"Get off!" I hissed, my fear mounting.

"Mrs. O'Leary?"

"AROOF!"

The dog considered me for a few seconds longer than I would have liked. She seemed to be wondering why I wouldn't want to be seen by whoever was coming. As if she wanted to… recognize me for saving Annabeth. I couldn't have cared less whether or not I was seen as a hero, all I cared about right now, was Annabeth's safety, and getting to the water. Now.

Mrs. O'Leary cocked her head. She seemed mildly disappointed, but finally let me go. And not a moment too soon; the instant I dove back into the water, a man rounded the corner.

I ducked behind a rock to watch.

When I saw him, I had a flicker of recognition. It was Luke. He looked absolutely terrible–almost as bad as Annabeth. He had black rings under his eyes, and his skin looked sickly and pale, as if he had spent the last twelve years, wasting away in a prison. Knowing what little I did about him, I would guess that he'd been worried sick over the princess.

His eyes widened when he saw Annabeth. In an instant, he was at her side. "Annabeth!" He cried. Then turning to Mrs. O'Leary, he said, "Good girl! Very good girl!"

"WOOF!" The dog barked happily, her tail wagging. She looked over at me, obviously unaware that I was trying to be inconspicuous. I quickly jerked out of sight, but Luke was too busy to notice.

Slowly peering around the rock, I noticed Annabeth had chosen that moment to stir. She gave a weak cough and her eyes fluttered open. Even from such a distance, I could tell that they had lost some of their earlier intensity, but that didn't make my heart clench any less when I saw them.

"Annabeth!" Luke cried. He wrapped her in a hug that rivaled a colossal squid's. Her eyes widened and she pounded Luke on the shoulder, clearly ordering him to let go. When he did, she exhaled visibly.

"Sorry." he murmured. But after a beat, he embraced her again. "I thought you were dead!" He cried. He pulled back, eyes scanning Annabeth, as if he were looking for imperfections. He frowned. "You… you should be dead. How did you survive?"

She had a confused expression. "I…" Her gaze traveled in my direction, and I hid again. Thankfully, she hadn't seen.

"I don't know." She finally answered. "I probably just washed up on the beach."

I turned in time to see Luke scowl. "Only your dead body would do that."

Annabeth shrugged helplessly in response. "Well then, I don't know. Maybe a merman rescued me or something."

At this, Luke's scowl dissolved and he laughed out loud. "Don't be ridiculous Annabeth! Mer folk are just tales spun by drunken sailors. I think you've swallowed a bit too much seawater, hmm?" His eyes twinkled as he grinned at her. "Come on, I know a certain woman who would be overjoyed to see you safe." He stood and reached out a hand to her. As she took it, he helped her wobble to her feet. "Let's get you home, princess."

At that, they staggered off, Annabeth leaning heavily on Luke for support. Mrs. O'Leary turned, and was about to follow them, when instead she stopped, and stole a glance at me. She cocked her head, tongue lolling out.

"WOOF!"

She scampered back a few paces, then turned to me again, as if asking me to come.

I shook my head furiously, pointing at Luke's receding figure instead.

"WOOF WOOF!"

I shook my head again. "Go!" I told her, my voice barely above a whisper. "Go on!"

"Mrs. O'Leary? Come on girl! Stop barking at the seagulls."

After one last look at me, she lowered her head and trotted after her mistress.

A/N:

Just because I'm so nice, this is all you're getting ;). I know, I know, some of you have been waiting forever for the next chapter, but try not to get too excited. I have a lot of stuff on my hands right now, so please excuse me if I don't update for a while. FanFiction isn't really one of my top priorities.

As for other stuffs, whoever told me that Keefe's EYES WERE ICE-BLUE LIED TO ME. NO. MARELLA'S EYES ARE ICE-BLUE. KEEFE'S EYES ARE SKY-BLUE. I knew I was right! Ugh, I'm so changing that. Also please stop leaving reviews on how you want me to continue Loop Holes. It's a one-shot. End of discussion.

Yeah, well, on that note, I'm going to try to add another PJO one-shot to my list of PJO oneshots. It's going to be about Mrs. O'Leary, so if you could toss me any ideas for the title that'd be great.

Whew! Okay, sorry for acting really prickly rn, but I promise I'll try to be nicer ^^. Thank you guys so much for your support, and happy reading! R&R

-Amy