Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Going into a Capture the Flag game with a massive headache is easily the hardest thing Piper has done as a Peacemaker. Yeah, the second in command to the creator of the universe is complaining about a headache. Was that sad? Piper didn't want to think too much about it- it hurt her head. More. A lot more. Like anything else she thought about. Or when she talked. Or when she moved. Yeah, she was in pain, and she was going to whine a lot about it.
So what if she could hardly walk and think at the same time? She had to compete in the game because no offense to the others, she was one of the biggest advantages and she had never been one to sit down and let everyone do everything. She was a do-er, and Chaos, was she so out of it that she was making up words?
Percy was at her side, and she didn't miss the furrowed eyebrows, spark in his eyes, and a frown on his lips. He kept glancing at her, and if it hadn't been worriedly, Piper might have been a little giddy, but she half wished he'd stop. It pleased her to know that he was worried about her, but she could take care of herself. She has been taking care of herself. She didn't need any help now. But then again...lately, she's needed help and it was always Percy who had helped her, and she had to admit shamelessly that if she wanted anyone to help her, it'd be Percy. But he had that job down. She didn't mind the slightest when she pointed that out.
"Piper," Percy said as they watched the black flag with stars twinkling as if it was actually space, sway above Zeus's fist. He held her arm and electricity sparked making her head pound more and less...unless that was her heart; she couldnt tell. "Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to-"
"Yes I do," she replied, and she looked up at him, trying to make it seem like she was looking in his eye, but completely avoiding it so she didn't lose her composure, freak out like she was inside that this wouldn't work and they might lose, yell at him for confusing her feelings and being all "friends" with her best girl friend, and then collapse against him because of the pain she was enduring with this fucking headache, and Chaos, she wished she was light headed. "The Camp has to see me fighting."
"But you're not fit to fight," he told her, his frown not falling. "You should rest-"
"No," she said sternly. "I'm fine, Percy. I'm playing."
He still looked worried. "Piper..."
"End of discussion." She turned on her heel and called out, "Naden! Let's get ready!" Oh, Chaos, she should not yell with a headache. Damn Percy for making her yell.
Piper rubbed her temples to try and make the pounding stop, and Bailey walked up to her. Somehow, she was the last person Piper wanted to talk to. "Piper," she mumbled softly as Piper glanced at her shortly before back over at the flag where Naden was giving out last minute encouragements and stuff to the others since she couldn't do it. Piper didn't know what to feel with Bailey. There was no doubt in her mind that she should be upset with her because just last night, she had caught her and Percy "talking" on the beach and they were oddly friendly with each other and Piper did not like it one bit. But at the same time, she couldn't find it in her to be mad because that was her best friend and they had literally been through everything together. She didn't want their relationship to be ruined because Piper kind of, sort of, maybe had a crush on Percy and Bailey probably did as well.
Chaos help her. She needs some pain relief and an easier love life.
"Are you sure you want to play?" Bailey asked, and Piper shot her a glare, vemon seeping into her words,
"You and Percy must be spending a whole lot of time together for you two to be saying the same things."
Bailey looked shocked for a second before she crossed her arms over her chest and snapped, "Well, if you'd care to notice, I was just asking like a friend should." She stomped her foot like a little kid in frustration. "And Percy and I are just friends!"
Piper scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure, just like how you two were talking on the beach!"
"We were!" Bailey threw her hands up. "So I have him a hug, I'm sorry!"
"What about this morning?" Piper demanded as she recalled how abruptly Percy left, the empty space next to Bailey, and how she almost rushed after him.
Bailey blinked. "Are you serious?"
Piper's face was red with anger and a little jealously, and you never want a daughter of Aphrodite jealous. Never. "Of course I am!" She was in pain, she was slightly hurt by her friend going after her crush, and she just wanted to lay down and forget all about this. "Why would I be joking?"
"Because, for a love daughter, you're so stupid!" Bailey replied, and she gritted her teeth. "Besides, why do you care? You left this morning with only a note to hang out with fucking di Angelo and you didn't show up until breakfast ended! You've been with him all day, and you still haven't noticed anything!"
"I was talking to an old friend!" Piper argued, though a part of her was drowning in guilt. "And there was nothing to notice but how you and Percy kept whispering to each other and how you two were always close and holding hands!"
"Just Percy!" Bailey shouted, absolutely frustrated. "I was being a decent friend unlike you!"
That hit her hard. Bailey turned on her heel and marched off. She was right. Piper hadn't been a very good friend to Percy. She had pushed all her burdens on his shoulders the first day he came, and he didn't complain. When she did it again, he was still fine and he helped her through the whole thing. He had comforted, held, and stayed with her. He blamed the death of her old best friend on himself and he kept apologizing. What'd she do while he was crying? Watched. Put a hand on his back. That was nothing compared to what he did while she was crying.
He fought Jason for her just because he had made her cry. He was mad at her for considering to forgive him. But when Annabeth was yelling at him and hurting him, she did nothing but watch. When he shrugged about it later but was clearly affected by it, she did nothing but nod her head.
And then to top it all off, they fought last night and she left in the morning not even caring to make things up with him. She said plenty of harsh, hurtful things that made him almost cry and thought that she didn't want him as her friend. She didn't say she was sorry, hasn't expressed how much she really needs him and what an amazing friend he is.
What kind of friend is she? How does he still want to be her friend after all she's done to him? She doesn't deserve him, especially when she's accusing him of fooling around with her best girl friend, not apologizing, and then pretending everything's okay. But he's still there, and he's nice and perfect, and she still ignores him! And he hasn't complained to her, but apparently he had to Bailey and why didn't she notice this before?
Someone grabbed her arm and she knocked herself out of berating herself for being such a horrible person and looked over at them. Naden was looking sympathetic but determined. "We've got to get going," she told her and Piper blinked; Chaos, she felt like shit and her head so bad she thought she was going to cry, or maybe that was her thoughts... "The game starts in 30 seconds, Piper."
"Okay," she said softly, and with one last look at the Chaos flag and the shooting star going across it, she wished she could somehow make up for this.
Percy didn't know what Bailey and Piper were fighting about, and a part of him didn't really want to know, but he guessed it was about him. He knew Bailey was looking out for both of them and he was positive that she would never tell Piper that he was close to loving her- it's harder to deny it now and he doesn't think there's another reliable explanation for his hurt, anger, jealously, and funny feelings. But he was worried that Piper and Bailey's friendship would be screwed because Bailey was helping him with the whole ordeal of Piper being all good to Nico- Percy had decided that on a scale of Gabe (1) to Gaia (10) Nico was a 422 (all the gods, titans, and giants combined). They had been friends probably longer than Percy and her had, and he couldn't break up a friendship like that. Even if it meant losing Piper.
Maybe he had already lost her.
He touched her arm as she passed them and they got ready to head in the forest- they were waiting for the scatter of Campers feet before they started for that tie. She looked up at him with those gorgeous eyes and he forgot what he was going to say when she suddenly engulfed him in a hug. He blinked a few times before slowly wrapping his arms back around her. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into his chest and it took him a moment to understand.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about? You have nothing to be sorry for."
She sniffled and pulled away. "We should go to the beach tomorrow," she said looking up at him with those eyes and there was no way he could say no.
"Sure, but, uh, why? I mean, it's fine with me and everything, but what about the rest of the group? And why are we talking about this now? Not that I have a problem with that either, but I'm just wondering." Chaos, even if it was a group, he was nervous as hell. Going to the beach- that's what people did on dates. And maybe he could get her to light up and laugh and look oh-so-beautiful like she did this morning. He could be the cause of that, and oh, man, just thinking about it made him all giddy and nervous.
But the group...They had to come...Piper wouldn't let them not come. It wasn't how she worked. She liked to include everyone because she was that thoughtful and caring. So...it wasn't a date. It couldn't be a date. Maybe it was a celebration thing.
A celebration thing.
Oh. Oh. Oh. It was a celebration thing. Which meant the whole Chaos team was coming. Which involved Nico. Which meant she wasn't going to be hanging out with Percy, but rather with stupid Nico.
Piper grabbed his wrist because they could hear the conch horn signalling the start of the game and the campers gave a scream far across the forest. She pulled him along to the left like they planned, and Naden followed after them, a fact that Percy didn't notice because of the horrifying realization he had come to. "I figured we still have a lot to talk about," she replied quietly, ignoring most of his questions as they snuck in through bushes. "And we haven't hung out much besides that."
He choked and suddenly, it was hard to breathe. "We? You mean us?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Percy. You and me."
He stumbled over a branch (it was the branch, he swears; a fallen one that he has no idea how it got on the ground, but it definitely was not the fact that she had just said it was them, he swears.) "A-A-Alone?" he stammered, and Piper's cheeks painted pink.
She gave a little nod, and Naden, secretly listening in, rolled her eyes at the two. "Yeah, and it'll be a relaxation day or something," she said after a long pause when they hid behind a rather large tree because of the group of kids running towards their flag. They were like ninjas, even though Percy was usually caught everytime he tried to do something stealthy- he hoped today wasn't the case.
"What about the others?" Percy asked as they continued on, not going too terribly fast because they had to make it a tie.
Piper shrugged, and honestly, she was surprised the walk to the other team's flag was going this well. She figured with all the kids they had that they would spread out to every corner and still have an army to guard. "They can hang out with the campers..." she paused. "If this works."
"Hey, it will, alright?" Percy assured because that day at the beach really, really sounded like a date- especially with the two of them- and if this didn't work, he knew that they wouldn't going on it. And he was already beginning to muster courage to tell her how he felt. "It's an awesome plan and-"
He stopped abruptly because of the sword heading for his face and he fell to the ground, pulling Piper with him on instinct. "Traitor!" the person who tried to cut off his face yelled and he instantly recognized the voice.
"Clarisse!" he shouted in outrage and they stumbled up with their swords at the ready. Naden, when Percy looked back, was locked in battle with Chris who seemed lke he didn't really want to fight her, but had no choice. Percy guessed Clarisse was in on it. "No killing!"
"You betrayed us, Prissy!" she screamed back as her electric spear clashed with Riptide which has always stayed in his pocket. "You deserve a good ass kicking!"
"I never betrayed you!" he growled, and he gritted his teeth in effort; she was still a daughter of Ares even if he's fought in too many wars and get trained for a day with Chaos himself. "I'm still on your side!"
She gave a harsh laugh, sidestepping and attempting to smash Percy's head in with the hilt of her sword. Percy blocked just in time- he didn't think she got the idea of no killing in this game. "Then why are you with the enemy?"
Sweat formed on his forehead from the effort, but something snapped inside him. He was sick of this- everyone thinking Piper was the enemy when all she did was try to get away from being abandoned and it wasn't her fault that her mother finally decided to care once she left. It wasn't her fault he was a stupid dumb ass and he ignored his friend when she needed him the most.
It just was not her fault!
He shoved his sword with all his strength and Clarisse flew back in surprise and hit a tree with a painful thud and grunt. "Shut it, Clarry," he snarled and he turned, grabbed Piper's wrist since she stopped fighting with an Ares kid in shock, and ran.
Piper stumbled after him, but caught footing and kept going, trying to keep up with him. Naden was coming after them and there were shouts and roars of anger surrounding them from what seemed every side. The whole forest was a loud yelling mess and Percy wondered how many people they'd have to face before they even came up to a close turn of the camp's flag. Luckily, Percy knew the way (if it was just Piper...oh, they would've been so screwed.) and oh holy mother of the universe, Piper should definitely not be be in battle or darting away from one and into another bigger one, with a massive headache as big as hers. She half hates Chaos for answering her prayers.
"Duck!" Naden screamed behind them and Piper luckly got her foot caught in an oddly placed root...that moved. Thank you Dionysus or Demeter she thought as she hit the ground hard and heard the wind slide into halves from the sheer force of the blade above her. But the person was fast to recover and she heard the person's foot placing change and she quickly flipped to her back, wide eyed as she watched the bronze blade buried itself in the dirt next to her. Was everyone so damned to kill the Chaos crew?
She looked up at the owner and only part of her was surprised to find a very pissed off Annabeth glaring down at her. Of course it would be her. And of course she had to be really fast and she aimed the knife for her heart. But, luckily, because of so many years under Chaos, Piper was able to send out her leg to make Annabeth lose her balance and she was able to use her wonderful knife to push Annabeth's wrist away from her as she squeaked and stumbled to keep her balance.
"You never should have come back here, McLean," Annabeth snapped as they stood, staring at each other, and Percy glanced over from where he was fighting with some large Ares kid; Clarisse and her crew were hurrying as well to come up behind them. They'd be surrounded and overwhelmed in minutes.
"I can go wherever I like, Annabeth," Piper replied calmly, though her head was pounding and pounding, and she looked a little pale. Percy half wished Chaos didn't send any help at all because now she might be out of play for good.
"No! You betrayed everyone here by leaving!" Annabeth's face grew red with anger and even if she was a daughter of Athena, she looked ready to through any caution she had left to the wind and spring at her to gut her. Piper's eyes blinked a few times. "And then you just show up, steal my boyfriend, and act like nothing ever happened here!"
"I didn't steal anyone!" Piper protested, though her stomach dropped in guilt. She was right: She didn't steal anyone, since she hadn't been a very good friend to Percy, but that didn't mean she didn't keep the two apart by making Percy choose sides and making them fight. "If it matters to you, I didn't even want to be here anyway! I was sent here!"
"By who?" Annabeth sneered, and Percy ducked as the sword went over his head. No one else was fighting, so why did this guy keep trying to cut off his head? "Your boss?"
"Yes!" Piper sucked in a breath. Her head hurt. "Can you just attack me so we can go get the stupid flag and I can lay down?"
"What? Did we already tire you out, traitor?" Clarisse cackled in the crowd behind her, Naden locked in battle with Chris, but trying to keep everyone away from her boss at the same time. Damn the gods for needing so much sexual activity.
"Just someone, attack!" one of the other campers yelled out. "We need to get moving to overwhelm the rest of them and get the flag!"
Piper sucked in a breath. Right the others. If they were overwhelmed a couple yards in front of the place they were at, how bad did they have it? They needed to get to the flag, though. She knew Chaos would tell her when they were close, but she knew that that was the only thing that he could do; they had to do the rest. And the rest was getting to their flag, going through gods-know how many people just through the next six feet. Then the defense they probably had intricately set up. Then the people there. Before going through it all again to make it back. This was going to be so much fun.
If she didn't pass out in a few minutes, after this battle.
"Bring it, McLean," Annabeth ordered with a red face and lightning sparking in those clouds that make up her eyes. "Show us what you've learned from the time you've spent hiding and betraying us."
Something in Piper snapped. She had saved all their lives how many times? Aliens from every freaking galaxy wanted to come to Earth to destroy them, but she was there and she kept them from it, telling them that humans were important in the universe and they were smart beings that shouldn't be messed with. What has Annabeth done? Save the camp a couple times. Piper was the second in command to the creator of the universe- she had powers even she didn't know about! She was not just going to sit here and let her crush's ex-girlfriend, and her ex-friend come up and tell her that she has done nothing and that she caused this war. She didn't do anything, and she didn't see why they don't understand that. They did it. They caused her to leave, provoked her into doing it, so she left, and how was she supposed to know that her mom actually cared when she sat for days, bawling her eyes out after a breakup that her own mother could've prevented?
No. It was not her fault. No, she didn't cause this war, she wasn't useless or a traitor. She cared for them; if she didn't, she would've let the first alien race come and destroy the planet just because they hadn't helped her in the time of need. She was helping them now, had helped them in the past. And she knew way more and was more powerful than this daughter of Athena.
And damnit, they needed to know that.
Piper let out a long breath, and the wind around them picked up. It was a circle in between the crowd and them so no one knew what was happening- save the surprise for later. She slid her foot and the ground hardened to a pavement like texture, not allowing any of the Dioynsus or Demeter kids interfere. And she didn't want either of them to slip and give the other an advantage.
Leaves and twigs flew around them with the speckled grass and dirt from her cleaning. It turned into a mini tornado that acted a curtain, and while Annabeth was looking around in shock, Piper launched at her, aiming for her arm- she was going to play fair even though no one else was. Annabeth barely had time to block the knife before the tip hit her skin, getting her to gasp. Her shock was quickly replaced by anger and determination and the epic battle between the two started.
Percy watched with a growing worry- any time he could with this stupid son-of-a-bitch trying to hack off his head- as they fought, the images displaced by the fragments of the earth winding around them. Annabeth parried and struck; Piper ducked and tried to send Annabeth to the ground with a kick, but it didn't work well due to her jump. Annabeth aimed for the throat; Piper aimed for the leg and arm. Should he try to get in the cloud and join her? And who should he attack? He couldn't attack Piper, that much he knew, swore it on his grave he'd never be able to do that, but even though him and Annabeth had their altercations, they were still best friends, and she was his second love- if you count Rachel- but he could never hurt her. Those spars they did- do- are harmless and they don't even try to hurt one another; they laugh and poke fun at each other. This was real. She could really hurt him if she wanted; he could hurt her, even if that went against everything he was for.
"Go!" Piper screamed from inside the growing tornado that was getting higher and filled with more twigs and leaves and dirt. "Go towards the flag! I'll meet you there!"
"What?" Percy shouted, shocked, as he ducked another swing from this damned sword that was still trying to cut off his head. "Would. You. Stop. It?" he growled towards the Ares guy, and he turned on his heel, avoiding an attack, and getting inside the guy's arms to slam the hilt of his sword into his chest so that the bronze chestplate he was wearing was idented with the mark of it and the guy flew down to the ground with a pain filled grunt.
"Go!" she repeated loudly and she sounded strained. Her head was pounding. She would've been cut by Annabeth multiple times if it had not been for the armor she had one. "I'll hold them off! You need to get going!"
"But Piper-"
"No, just go! I can handle it!"
"Not all of them!"
"Yeah, McLean, you have no chance with all of us," Clarisse taunted and Percy swirled to face her with a very mean glare.
"Shut up, Clarisse."
She sneered at him. "You sticking up for your traitor girlfriend, huh?"
"She's not his girlfriend!" Annabeth snapped, and Percy turned red.
"Maybe I am!" Piper yelled back, and the whole place just stopped, Percy's eyes going wide and Naden's as well. Piper had just risked everything she had by announcing a relationship that Percy didn't even know about. And she had no idea how it would blow up in her face later.
Okay, so I'm so fucking sorry that I didn't update for so long. Teachers hate us so they give us pounds of pounds of homework along with even more projects. I've had half of this written for the longest time, but I couldn't end it like I had it, but I had no way of getting it done because of homework. So I finally got time to work on it this weekend, and I'm hoping that I can get this done over Thanksgiving break which is coming up soon. Hopefully. Then I want to do to another PercyxPiper. Maybe. I already have it planned out, but I have two other stories, one of which is pretty close to ending.
I'm excited, and thank you all for your continued support and reviews. You're all awesome and cool and hopefully, this will kind of, sort of, make up for the month or two I haven't updated.
Love it? Hate it? Tell me about it(: