A/N: Back to my roots with Percabeth. They deserve the world. Happy reading!
The Argo II isn't a bad place. Really, it isn't.
But the monsters that keep trying to make their lives miserable aboard the ship are getting old.
The past night had been filled with constant monster attacks, and they'd all been awoken several times in the night to defend themselves from whatever creature had come to torment them. Collectively, they had all gotten about five hours of sleep at the most. And Annabeth had hoped for just a few minutes of peace where she could just take a breath . Or sleep. That would be nice too, she thinks. She really is so incredibly tired. Even before last night, she's rarely gotten a good night's rest. Nightmares and worry for her friends aboard the ship and at Camp half-blood keep her awake at all hours.
She would be happy for even just fifteen minutes of blessed silence.
But the universe hates her, she decides, because it hasn't even been five minutes since Annabeth and Percy have sat down to eat after two hours on watch duty when they hear loud screeches and a panicked yell from Frank above them.
"I guess lunch will have to wait," Percy says as they spring up from their seats and rush to the main deck.
It's pandemonium.
At least twenty Harpies are attacking Frank and Jason and tearing at the ship. Jason is trying to harness the winds around them, but Annabeth can tell he's tired from the relentless attacks the night before, and the harpies break through his attempts easily. Frank is faring a bit better, having turned into a bear, but his movements are slow and all over the place. Annabeth isn't sure she could do much better, but what choice does she have? She turns to look at Percy and they share a grim smile.
"I hate it here," Percy says flatly, and Annabeth rolls her eyes once before they charge into the fray.
Immediately, three harpies turn towards her, looking at her menacingly for about three seconds until they dive at her, talons outstretched. Annabeth cuts through one of them with her sword, and the harpy evaporates into dust with a screech. Another comes for her, and Annabeth dodges, her sword making a wide arc around her as she takes out another one.
But they keep coming. Again and again, the harpies converge, and Annabeth wants to sob with relief when Piper, Leo, and Hazel burst up through the deck. Leo gives a furious yell at the harpies that are damaging the ship and immediately alights with flame, sending balls of fire at the bird-women. She doesn't look further to see what Hazel and Piper are doing, but she hears Hazel yell Frank's name and Piper's attempt at charmspeak as she refocuses on the three harpies circling her. She lunges forward, catching them by surprise. Another harpy turns to dust. The others around her shriek in fury and shoot forward.
Then she hears the screech from behind her.
Too late.
Annabeth lets out a cry of pain as she feels talons dig into her shoulder. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She hadn't been looking behind her, too focused on the harpies ahead. She whirls to face the harpy. A mistake, because the harpy's claws rake over her shoulder, leaving long, deep gashes in her skin.
She'll pay the price for that later, she knows, and even though her eyes are watering and her shoulder is burning, she reaches and stabs the harpy that had been trying to carry her off through the heart. It disappears, and Annabeth takes out another one. And another. And another.
Adrenaline is pumping through her, and she tries to shut out the pain that the harpy left behind as she continues to fight. The next few minutes are filled with more swords and screeches from disintegrating harpies, and Percy cuts the last one down. When he turns to survey the damage done by the harpies and catches sight of Annabeth, his face whitens. Then Annabeth hears Hazel's horrified voice from behind her.
"Oh, gods, Annabeth," she says, "you're shoulder-" but the girl breaks off, because Annabeth, who hasn't taken her eyes off Percy's face, is sinking to her knees.
At once, Percy rushes forward, gathering her in his arms.
"It's okay," he says, voice panicky. "It's going to be fine. Let's get you to the infirmary."
Annabeth hisses and shrinks away as she feels the sting on the back of her shoulder.
"I know, Wise girl, I know," Percy says softly. "But you need to hold still."
"I'm trying," Annabeth says through gritted teeth, "But it feels like my arm is on fire." The two of them are sitting on one of the beds in the infirmary. Annabeth's orange camp t-shirt has been cut off of her and cast aside, because when she tried to take it off normally so Percy could clean her wounds, waves of pain had washed over her shoulder, and she'd let out a string of curses that Chiron would be disappointed in.
"Yeah, well, that tends to happen when a harpy tries to carry you off," Percy replies.
"Your sarcasm is not helpful."
"It's a core part of my personality," he says, trying to keep his voice light. "You can't take that from me." Annabeth snorts, but she doesn't say anything else. A long silence stretches between them, and Annabeth closes her eyes, trying to focus on anything other than the three deep cuts on her shoulder. "okay, now this is going to hurt, but you need to hold still so I can–"
Another bolt of pain shoots through her, and Annabeth fails to bite down on a cry as she jerks away from Percy, unable to stand the burning sensation that reverberates through her shoulder.
"What are you putting on that wound," she asks, eyes watering. She turns to face her boyfriend, who is looking at her with alarm.
"Just the usual nectar, Beth. But… they're pretty deep gashes. Not poisoned or infected," he says hastily at the look on her face, "but yeah. Deep. I just finished cleaning them, and now that I can see them completely… I think we have to stitch it up."
Annabeth grimaces. "Oh joy."
Percy gives her a small smile. "Hey, at least the bleeding stopped. Mostly." He leans forward and plants a gentle kiss on her lips. "Now turn around," he says softly. "You can do this."
The next few minutes seem to last hours as Percy stitches the cuts on her shoulder. She can feel every puncture in her skin, feel the burning sensation in her shoulder as the gashes are pulled closed. She's clutching the blankets that are covering her lap and right side so tightly that her skin is white, and the silence between her and Percy is punctured by her occasional gasps of pain, as well as Percy's futile attempts to engage her in conversation to distract her.
"Okay," Percy says finally, "done. We're running out of nectar, so I'm going to just put a few more drops on them and then bandage it up."
"Sounds good to me," Annabeth says with a wince as the nectar hisses and burns. She's tempted to tell him to use as much as he can, because she needs all the nectar she can get, but spontaneous combustion from too much would be a bit of an issue, so she grits her teeth and tells herself she can wait a bit longer than usual for the talon marks on her shoulder to heal fully.
"There," Percy says, brushing his hands over her skin and placing a light kiss on her shoulder, just above her wound. Annabeth's entire body warms at the contact, and all the tension she's been holding in for the past few minutes goes out of her. Suddenly exhausted, she turns to face him, a small smile on her face.
"Thank you," she says, and Percy just shrugs and smiles crookedly as he hands her the tank top Piper had sent down with them for Annabeth to change into.
"We've got to have each other's backs," he says, as Annabeth slips it on, wincing slightly.
"I think I– I'm just going to lie down for a bit," she says. "That… that fight did a number on me." Percy nods as he rubs small circles on the back of Annabeth's hand.
"Yeah, you should." He looks slightly relieved, though Annabeth can't tell if it's because she's finally wanting to sleep or if because the injury has been taken care of. "Sleep is pretty important, you know."
Annabeth laughs, and she lifts her good arm to help guide Percy's lips to hers. They're warm as always, tasting of sea salt and ocean air. "Will you stay with me?" she asks when they break apart, and Percy smiles at her and gives her another slow, lingering kiss before answering.
"You didn't even have to ask."
So she leans backward on the infirmary bed and drifts off to sleep, Percy's hand clasped firmly in hers.
A/N: 3
my otp to the end. Leave a comment if you so desire! I just loved the idea of a small, non sexual intimate moment between these two. They love each other so much I can't even.