Ch. 3
June - Or, as Leo calls it, "Shove it up your ass, Hera."
2 YEARS AGO; 14 YEARS OLD
There is a slight blonde with blazing silver eyes, her facial expression not changing as a fire fighter draped a thin grey blanket over her shoulders. She couldn't be that much older than Leo, perhaps even the same age.
Leo doesn't cry.
He spies a burned, blackened body being pulled along on a stretcher into an ambulance.
It could be Calypso, or his mother.
But he doesn't cry.
A lone yellow and gold puppy scutters over to Leo. His fur is matted with blood.
'Mrs. O' Leary' her collar reads.
Ash coats her paws, and she lets out a small wheeze.
Another corpse - or is this a live one now?
Leo doesn't care.
Calypso's dead.
He can't breathe.
He can't feel.
Mom's dead.
He can't cry.
He can't do anything.
Except look at the blazing silver eyes of the only survivor. She doesn't notice him. She sits almost blankly on the edge of the gurney. Soon after a woman with dark brown hair waddles up to the fire fighters, shows them something. The blonde rolls her eyes, an EMT checks her over, Leo watches as the woman draws the girl in for a tight hug.
The girl only rolls her eyes.
They walk off together.
She's able to walk away.
But Leo can't move.
He leans against the brick wall of the alleyway he's hunched up in. The police wouldn't let him closer to the burning store.
Cigarette butts are scattered around him, broken pieces of glass.
And a small, metal, novelty lighter.
He picks it up, staring at the burnt shell of a building is beginning to make his stomach churn, and he turns it over in his hands.
A plain, square-shaped lighter, coated in silver and with no decoration save a thin engraving.
'Hephaestus'
Leo doesn't know who the hell Hephaestus is, or what it is.
He opens the lighter. It makes a slight hissing sound when when he opens it, and a shhh when he closes it.
Open.
Close.
Open.
Close.
Open.
He flicks it. A tiny, orange flame bursts out of the lighter, and Leo looks at it.
Fire.
PRESENT TIME
Percy paces outside Annabeth's door.
Walk, walk, walk, turn.
Walk, walk, walk, turn.
"Just go in, say you're sorry, get out," Percy mutters to himself, "Go in, apologize, leave."
He nods, looking to the door as if it will give him some form of strength, but it offers no such condolences. He groans, and promptly kicks the door in anger.
A pain shoots through his foot, and he clutches it howling.
Damn. That hurt.
The door swings open, and Percy flies back, still holding his foot.
Annabeth stands in the doorway, her hair mussed and wearing pajamas.
Riight. It's also 3 AM.
Percy just forgot.
But he's got ADHD, so you can't really blame him.
So, hah.
Annabeth speaks, but Percy isn't paying any attention, so he blinks once.
"What?" Percy asks, but he more yells it and Annabeth hisses at the loud noise.
Annabeth drags him inside, "You wanna wake everybody up, Kelp-for-Brains?"
"Kelp?" Percy asks, sitting blankly down on the chair by Annabeth's desk while she shuts the door.
"You look like you surf," Annabeth says, shrugging, sitting on the bed.
There's an opened letter on the bed. And Percy fixates on it.
He's buzzing to ask what's inside, but he knows it's rude, but...
"What's that?" Percy blurts out, nodding toward the envelope.
"Oh, that's a letter from my professor," Annabeth says, waving it off, "You could read it, if you like. I'm quite proud of the contents."
Percy eagerly grabs it, grabbing the letter inside and tossing the envelope inside.
He pauses, because Annabeth is looking expectantly at him from her perch on her bed. Percy uneasily sets the letter down for a moment.
"Listen, Annabeth..." Percy says, "About earlier, I'm really sorry. I really didn't know Leo would say that, y'know?"
"Say what?" Annabeth asks, her brow furrowing in confusion, "What about earlier?"
Percy is at a loss.
She really doesn't remember?
"Anyways," Annabeth says dismissively, "If you want to read the letter could you hurry up? I really want to get crackin' at another plan to convert the kitchens into a laboratory."
Should he tell her? What should he do?
'Forgive and forget. Annabeth's just doing that literally.' A voice says, but another, softer, quieter voice also says, 'But she doesn't know what she's forgiving and forgetting in the first place.'
Percy smiles, "Sure."
He lifts up the letter again, perusing the contents.
'Miss Annabeth Chase,
I'm very sorry to inform you that your spot with us at Berkeley has, unfortunately, been given away. Please note this is not at all a reflection of your skill or intelligence, but more so so because you are currently occupied with the program at Olympus Rehabilitation Center...'
...
Oh, God.
Poor Annabeth.
Percy looks over at her, where she was glaring over at what appears to be blueprints for a nuclear bomb, and the feeling of guilt hits him like a truck.
One line stands out to Percy.
'...We do hope you will visit us at Berkeley some time...'
Oh, gods.
"Annabeth, this letter..."
"Is an acceptance into the nuclear physics program at Berkeley! I just have to wait a couple years until I get out of here and then I can start my work!" Annabeth interrupts gleefully, one of her rare, genuine smiles spreading slowly across her face, "Not as a student, either, but a researcher! Isn't it amazing?"
"Annabeth..."
"What?" Annabeth asks, her smile drooping a little.
Percy hesitates slightly, "This is a letter saying they gave away your spot in the program..."
Annabeth's face goes blank. Totally, completely, utterly devoid of emotion.
Pale, and white, framed by gold.
"That isn't funny, Percy," Annabeth says harshly, "You shouldn't joke about that."
Her lips droop in the corners, pressed tightly together. Her eyes are squited suspiciously.
"It's not a joke, Annabeth! Look!" Percy says. He's desperate now. He needs her to remember. He needs her to slap him for what Leo said, to hit him and punish him because the guilt is eating away at him and hurting him so much, she needs to understand and remember and it's so frustrating and-
"Get out." Annabeth says coldly. Her eyes are a dark, stormy grey.
Her hair is blazing gold.
"What?" Percy asks, his voice soft and shocked.
"Get. Out."
She shoves him out, and the door slams shut behind him.
The lock clicks.
And Percy's left feeling worse than before he had entered her room.
"Come on."
"Why? Where're we goin'?" Piper asks, trailing behind Annabeth.
"The Boiler Room," Annabeth states plaintively.
"The boiler room?" Piper asks, raising an eyebrow.
Annabeth rolls her eyes, "No. The Boiler Room. With a capital 'B,' capital 'R.'
"What's the difference?"
"There's no cameras in the Boiler Room."
Annabeth leads her down the emergency stairwell, into a small storage closet.
"I found this while I was playing hide-and-seek when I was nine," Annabeth says, grunting and pushing a heavy box aside, "They still haven't found my hiding spot whenever we play."
"They?" Piper asks, lifting a brow.
"Will Solace and Clarisse."
"I meant to ask you - why doesn't Clarisse have a last name?"
"Nobody knows it," Annabeth says, and she pulls up the wooden trap-door that had been hidden by the boxes earlier, "She just showed up one day on the doorstep of Olympus. Y'know, the whole baby-in-a-box thing, but instead of a box, she had a suitcase, and instead of a baby, she was twelve."
"Were you there? When she showed up?" Piper asks, helping Annabeth shift a box to hide the entrance from view.
Annabeth shakes her head, "I was at college for three years. From when I was twelve to fifteen."
"...Woah..."
A deep, spacious, underground cavern, with haphazard light bulbs strung along the walls by a thin wire. Annabeth flicked the switch on, revealing a large wall where she had hung up various schematics of devices, drawings, sketches. Another whole wall was devoted to architecture, and Piper paused a minute to admire the detail.
Annabeth stands proudly at the doorway which led to a ladder, and points to the vent that Piper hadn't noticed before, "That's how we get air circulation down here. It was all already built. I think it was a bomb shelter once."
Piper nods, whistling appreciatively, "Damn. This is perfect, 'Beth, thanks."
A flicker of something flashes across Annabeth's face. She shudders for a moment, stills, and then Annabeth's trademark, emotionless expression spreads across her face.
Piper is startled by the transformation.
Note to self: Don't call Annabeth "Beth."
She doesn't say anything, though.
Don't ask, don't tell. That's Piper's motto.
Along with, Sitting with your legs open will give guys the wrong idea.
But the latter is more her mom's saying, and a totally different story.
"Why did you ask me for, and I quote, 'the perfect meeting spot where Hera can't be sticking her nosy ass where it doesn't need to be?'" Annabeth asks, leaning against the wall.
Piper grins, "I've got big plans for us, y'know?"
"No, I don't know," Annabeth states bluntly.
"I'm planning the greatest heist of all time," Piper says.
"Interesting," Annabeth replies, looking at her nails. She says it in a tone of voice as if Piper had suggested getting their nails done, or having a girl's night, neither of which Annabeth would be remotely interested in, "And what would I stand to receive from this?"
"Around $20,000. Each."
"Hmmm. Alright. But if they're not in from the beginning they don't get to see my hiding spot."
"Deal," Piper says, "Wait, you wouldn't mind if Leo and Percy and everybody's there, right?"
"Why would I mind?"
"...Nevermind."
Having a meeting.
Come to the emergency stairwell on the first floor.
If you don't wanna join, don't come.
Once you're in, you can't get back out.
"Did you get one too?" Leo asks, glancing at the paper clutched in Jason's hand.
Jason blushes and moves it slightly away from Leo. Leo grins, and promptly snatches it out of Jason's hand.
Hey babe,
Come down to the emergency stairwell on the first floor.
XOXO
Piper
"'Babe?'" Leo asks, snickering.
"Give it back!" Jason roars, grabbing at the note.
"Sure, babe," Leo croons, handing the paper back.
"What are you guys doin' here?" Percy asks suddenly, coming up from behind him.
Leo holds up his note, and eyes Percy's, disappointed to find it identical to his own.
Frank and Hazel arrive silently, making the space in the emergency stairwell even more crowded.
"Oh good," Piper says from the top of the stairwell, "All of you guys are here."
"Yeah, what's this about, anyway?" Leo asks, leaning against the wall.
Piper grins, her smile appearing cat-like in the dim lighting, "Come on, follow me."
8 YEARS AGO; 7 YEARS OLD
Annabeth sits in the office, her legs dangling over the side of the chair. Her backpack is slung over her shoulder, her hair tied in a messy pony-tail that she did herself that morning.
She sniffles.
It's four thirty.
School ended at three.
"Annabeth?" the office secretary calls from outside the office. Her purse is slung over her shoulder, like she's preparing to leave, "You're cousin's here to pick you up."
Luke peaks his head into the office, waving, "Hey, 'Beth!"
Annabeth smiles, running up to hug Luke.
Luke lifts her up, his own backpack thudding on his back, "Come on, kiddo, let's go."
Luke leads her out to his car, (which he had lovingly dubbed, 'BackBiter'), and settles Annabeth in shotgun.
"Don't tell, alright?" Luke says, winking.
Annabeth nods, pressing a finger up to her lips, in an act of keeping silent.
Luke pulls out of the parking lot, and he sighs, runs one hand through his blond hair. The road zips underneath them, they approach the Golden Gate before Luke starts to speak.
"Did those bullies bother you again?" Luke asks as he hands over the toll fee.
The man nods, they move along.
Annabeth shakes her head, "My teacher said they are going to move me up again, so they let me read in the classroom while the other kids had recess."
"So they know, then? About the bullying?" Luke asks, his tone more pressing now.
Annabeth doesn't answer, instead replying with a question of her own, "Why didn't Mom pick me up today?"
Luke hesitates, slightly, barks a nervous laugh, "Can't get anything past you, can I?"
Annabeth blinks twice solemnly in answer.
"'Beth, your mom, she was working in the lab and there was an explosion," Luke said quietly. His voice is solemn, sad.
Annabeth tenses immediately, "An-And what happened to her?"
"The reactors overloaded, and the radiation killed everybody there."
Annabeth is silent for a long time. She turns her head, watching the waves of the Pacific Ocean lap onto the rocky beach below.
The silence buzzes in Luke's ear, and he needs Annabeth to say something - anything.
The road rises, falls, curves right, swings left.
"Annabeth?" Luke calls softly, glancing worriedly at Annabeth, "'Beth?"
She turns, and her stormy eyes are a pale, steely silver, in contrast to the usual warm grey.
"Am I going to stay with Father now?"
"Yes," Luke says hesitantly, "But I've discussed things with him, and we've decided once I get out of high school I can formally adopt you and you can come live with me and Thalia."
Annabeth reminds silent.
"Y-you remember Thalia, right?" Luke stutters, feeling the need to fill the silence.
"Take me home," Annabeth says, her voice low, solemn.
"We're heading there right-"
"To my mom's home," Annabeth says. Her voice is tired.
Luke nods, swinging a left. They drive in silence for ten minutes, then pulls up to a modest brownstone.
"Wait here," Annabeth says curtly, with the tone of a grown woman, and not the seven-year-old she really is.
When Annabeth slides back into the car, clutching a bag of personal items, Luke pretends not to see the wet tear tracks on her face.
In the wind,
all our memories go,
carried away,
like autumn leaves.
But if you grab one,
before it leaves you,
be sure to hold on tight,
Or it'll escape you.
A/N: Like I don't know anymore.