Percy paced the floor of the hospital waiting room, unable to keep still.

"My mom's strong, she'll be fine," he mumbled. "Nothing's gonna go wrong, Mom'll be fine. It'll be fine. Everything's fine."

"Percy," Annabeth said softly. "Come sit next to me."

He stopped in the middle of the floor and turned to her. "'Beth, I'm scared."

The daughter of Athena started back. She had already known that her boyfriend was scared; it was easy to tell, with how well she knew him. But he almost never admitted fear, even to her. She waved him over to the seat next to her again. "Come here, love."

Percy walked slowly to her and slumped down next to her. He was shaking slightly.

"What's the matter?" she asked, slowly intertwining her hand with his.

"What if something goes wrong?" he said in a rush. "What if the baby kills her? What if the baby comes out wrong? What if something happens to my mo-" he choked, unable to go on. "Annabeth, I don't know what I'd do without her."

Before she could answer, a nurse appeared in the doorway. "Anyone here for Sally Jackson?"

Percy shot up, his face full of fear. "Is she okay?"

The nurse nodded reassuringly, a smile on their face. "Yes, she's fine. She just gave birth to the cutest little kid. Would you like to see them?"

Percy let out a huge breath, looking relieved. "Yes. Yes, we would, thank you so much."

The two demigods followed the nurse into a room marked Jackson. The nurse opened the door and gestured inside, their mouth curving into a gentle smile. "There you are, kids. Congrats on the little sister," they said to Percy.

Percy gave a weak smile. He stepped towards the door, hesitating a moment before crossing the threshold. Annabeth noted the uncertainty with a thoughtful frown.

The tension drained out of the son of Poseidon's body as soon as he saw his mother laying in the bed, smiling down at a scrunched up face. "Mom," he breathed. "Oh, Mama, you're alright."

Sally beamed up at her son. "I am. And look!" she whispered, lifting the child in her arms. "You have a little sister!"

Percy's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "She's beautiful," he said, his voice hushed. "What's her name?"

"I named her Estelle, after my mother."

Paul, next to his wife, softly patted his daughter on the head. "Do you want to hold her, Percy?"

Percy blinked twice, seemingly noticing Paul for the first time. "Really?"

"Of course," Sally said.

Percy smiled, but Annabeth noticed that it seemed a little strained. "Of course I would!" He walked around the bed towards his mother, who lifted Estelle carefully and put her in Percy's scarred arms.

Percy stared down at the tiny child in his arms. His breath ruffled the delicate hairs on the top of her head. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Oh gods," he finally gasps out. "I can't- I'm sorry, Mom. I can't do this." He gently put the baby back in his mother's arms then backed away. When he reached the door, he turned around and bolted.

There was silence for a moment before Sally spoke. "What did I do?" she asked, bewildered. "What did I do wrong?"

"I'm sure it's not anything you did," Annabeth responded. "I'm going to go find him." She turned and ran out the door after her boyfriend.

The daughter of Athena was only able to find Percy by asking various personnel if they'd seen someone running through the hallways. It took a little while, but finally a woman with hair that matched her bright blue scrubs pointed her in the right direction. "You might want to find him quick," she warned, "he seemed to be having a panic attack."

Annabeth thanked her and went in the indicated direction. Finally, she found a door cracked slightly open, and she made her way into an empty room with a hospital bed. Percy was sitting in the furthest corner. His legs were bent towards his chest, and his head was resting on his knees. In this position, with the gray sweatshirt he had on, he reminded Annabeth of a roly-poly.

She slowly padded over to him, taking a seat next to him. "Hey, love," she said softly, "what's the matter?"

Percy shuddered, curling further in on himself. "I don't- I can't-" He stopped speaking abruptly, and Annabeth could hear him swallow harshly, trying not to cry.

Annabeth reached out to rub his back, but as soon as she made contact he let out a cry and flinched away. She recoiled. "What-?"

Percy's head lifted. His eyes were bloodshot, and tear streaks ran down his cheeks. "Please, 'Beth, don't- don't touch me."

"Okay. Okay, I won't. But Percy, what's the matter?"

"It's so loud," he moaned, covering his ears and screwing his eyes shut. "It's too loud!" He sobbed, rocking back and forth. "Annabeth, I'm scared."

"What are you scared of, love?"

Percy scooted away from her. "I can hear yours. And hers and theirs and his and it's too much too much too much-!"

"Shh, shh, please, Percy, calm down. Can you breathe in for me? One, two, three… and out, one, two, three, four, five, six…" Annabeth tried to lead Percy through his panic attack, and it worked, as his shaky breaths began to slowly smooth out.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Annabeth said instantly. "What happened, Percy?"

Percy shut his eyes, exhaling. "It's just… as soon as I touched her, everything was just so loud."

Annabeth was about to ask what was loud, but then she noticed that Percy was tapping out a rhythm on the floor with a tightly clenched fist.

Bu-dum. Bu-dum. Bu-dum. Bu-bum.

"Oh," she breathed, feeling stupid for not figuring it out before. "The blood."

Percy shuddered, but that was all Annabeth needed for confirmation. "Oh, Percy. Estelle made things too loud for you?"

He nodded miserably. "Annabeth… I can't be around her. I can't be around them. I'm just going to hurt them."

"No, no, love," Annabeth said. "You could never hurt them. You're a good person."

Percy let out a choked laugh. "Am I? Annabeth, my hands, look at my hands!"

She looks at her boyfriend's calloused, scarred hands, then takes them in her own. "They're beautiful, Percy." She usually would never be this sappy, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

He shook his head, tracing the star shaped scar from the scorpion Luke had set on him years ago. He started rubbing his hands together, making a sound like sandpaper. Suddenly, he blurted out, "I'm not made for taking care of people, I think." He laughed, the sound croaky and sad. "I think that I'm only made for fighting."

"No," Annabeth disagreed. "No, that's not right. You took care of everyone on the Argo. Hazel and Nico and Frank and Leo all look up to you like an older brother."

"But mortals? I'm too…" his voice trailed off. "I don't know how to protect someone without fighting for them."

"Then fight for her," she said. "You can fight for her without hurting her. It's not your fault fighting is what you're best at. It's what you've been trained to do since you were twelve years old. Since you were born, really. But you can fight for her and make her feel safe, and loved, and wanted. I promise."

"How do you know?"

Annabeth smiled gently at him. "Because you do it for me. You do it for your mom. You do it for all the kids at Camp. You love better than you give yourself credit for."

"You promise?" Percy said in a small voice.

"I promise," Annabeth repeated.

"Okay," Percy whispered. "Okay."

The two kids sat there for a while, waiting for Percy's breath to go back to normal and his tears to dry.

"Do you want to go back?" Annabeth asked.

Percy wavered for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."

They stood up together, then made their way back to Sally's room. Annabeth pushed open the door and walked in, Percy trailing in behind her.

"Oh, Percy!" Sally breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you okay, abni?"

"Yeah, mama," he whispered. "Sorry for running away."

"Oh, it's alright," Sally said, brushing it away. "What do you want to do? You can leave, you can just sit with me and we can talk, you can try to hold Estelle again. Whatever you want."

Percy hesitated, then asked, "Can I- Can I hold her?"

Without speaking, Sally lifted the baby into his arms. He took a deep breath and held her tightly, but delicately, as if afraid she would shatter.

"Hello, Estelle," he whispered. "I'm Percy. I'm your older brother."

Estelle opened her eyes and looked up at the son of Poseidon. She looked curious, then broke into a gummy baby smile.

Percy smiled back. "I'm not going to let anything hurt you. I promise."

Sally looked at her two children proudly. "You're going to be the best big brother."

Percy let out a big breath. "I'll try."