A/N I have always loved the idea of Annabeth getting a scar from Percy losing his Achilles' spot, and the ensuing angst cause she doesn't understand what's happening...and then this fic possessed me.
Enjoy!
It all started with a tingling in her spine.
Granted, Annabeth had been having bouts of this feeling for the past couple of days. If Percy was here, he would probably convince her to take a break, to look after herself.
Unfortunately, that was the problem. Percy wasn't here. He was there, and Annabeth still wasn't sure where there even was because her esteemed majesty Hera hadn't graced Jason with his memory of that yet. Not only that, but they only had a week to finish the ship, and there were still problems, issues which needed to be fixed.
Sighing, Annabeth took a seat, rolling her shoulders as she felt the tingling ache wash over her. They were so close, she couldn't stop now, not for a long break, anyway. Sitting just outside the engine room, she watched as Leo rushed around, Jason and Piper trying to keep up with him.
They were good people, and while Annabeth probably wouldn't trust them with her life just yet, she still trusted them. An ache for Percy throbbed in her chest. Eight months. That was how long it had been. Annabeth had stopped counting the exact number of days a while ago; caught up in plans and the search for the other camp had kept her busy, but now with final preparations underway, she seemed to have more time to recede into her mind. More time to think, to allow her imagination to get the better of her.
What if Percy didn't remember her? What if, like Jason, he had found someone else in the other camp, someone who complimented him better than she did, who he liked better than her? Was four months of dating, and three years of friendship before not enough to set his feelings for her? What if he left her?
Annabeth shook her head, forcing herself to stand up, the tingling sensation fading as she did so. She needed to keep busy, her mind would have less time to wander.
Rolling her shoulders a couple of times, Annabeth reached up to pull herself over one of the pipes, aiming to make one last check on the screws and fittings.
She never got to do that.
A low whistle of surprise stopped her, and she turned initially to Leo, only to find he wasn't looking at her, when Piper spoke up.
"What kind of monster gave you a scar like that?"
Annabeth blinked, lowering herself back down, raising an eyebrow at Piper, both Leo and Jason's attention now focussed on both of them.
Piper looked awkward for a few seconds, before she continued, "You know, the one on your back, which looks like a web…"
The younger girl trailed off, uncertainty lacing her voice, Ananbeth herself just as unsure about what was happening as Piper sounded.
"Huh?"
Intelligent, Annabeth's brain supplied, as she squinted her eyes at Piper in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about. It could be just a trick of the light, we have been down here for a while."
Before Annabeth could finish though, the other girl was shaking her head, brushing her hand so it almost touched the hem of Annabeth's shirt, "It was right there, it was like… this centre point, and then it diverges into jagged strands over your back. Can I?"
Annabeth shrugged, lifting up the back of her shirt, "If you wanted me to take my shirt off, you could have just asked."
Leo snorted, but went quiet quickly, and Annabeth could see him staring at her back, was aware of Jason and Piper also looking. The silence was almost deafening, tension so high that when Jason's hand brushed hesitantly, softly against her back, Annabeth almost jumped.
"From what I can remember, I've never seen anything like this before," Jason all but whispered, pulling his hand away as he did so. "No monster I know can do this."
Feeling slightly confused, Annabeth attempted to twist her body so she could see what they were talking about, but her view was restricted.
Huffing, she dropped the hem of her shirt, stalking out of the engine room and through the ship.
Footsteps followed her, and Annabeth had to force down the dread which was slowly rising from the pit of her stomach. As far as she was aware, she had a few, very faint scars on her back, she had seen them in the mirror, and one day, one comfortable day when Sally and Paul had been out, she had let Percy see, his hand ghosting over each of them, asking her questions. But she knew what they looked like, and none of those scars looked like webs.
Percy would have asked her, would have told her… she forced down a shudder, the aching hole in her chest which Percy filled suddenly feeling bigger.
Down the corridor, up the stairs, onto the deck, and over the bulwark, the three younger demigods following her all the way.
"Do you have a mirror here, Leo? Anything with a reflective surface?"
Annabeth hadn't meant for the words to come out the way they did, short and sharp, but something irked her about this situation. How could she have scars, or a scar, as Piper had described it, which she didn't know about?
Leo went scampering off, further in the bunker, Piper and Jason approaching her, concern evident on both of their faces.
"Annabeth," there was a hesitation in Piper's voice. "What's going on?"
Annabeth waved her hand, not trusting herself to speak, the situation making her feel tense and unsettled. Not for the first time, she wanted Percy with her, he would know what to do, what to say. He had that way about him, mostly always knowing what to say when someone needed it, and this gift had only gotten better over the years as he had stepped up into his leadership role at camp. Annabeth rubbed her arms, she would give anything to have a Percy hug right now, to be pressed against his body, to hear his heartbeat. She wanted nothing more than to know he was safe.
Finally Leo returned, wheeling a mirror with him. Why there would be something like that in here, Annabeth had no clue, but right now she wasn't complaining.
Without much hesitation, Annabeth took off her shirt, barely noticing how both Leo and Jason seemed to choke slightly, averting both their faces, barely noticing Piper's small snort and raised eyebrow at the boys.
Twisting herself so she could get a better view, Annabeth finally laid eyes on the scar.
It was exactly how Piper had described, thin webs of white, raised scar tissue, leading to one focal point at the small of her back.
Slowly, she ghosted her hand over the parts of the scar she could reach, until she came to the small bundle of scar tissue it emanated from.
She froze.
No.
She was lying on a couch, Percy kneeling in front of her, arm throbbing from the knife wound. Silena had just left, leaving the two of them alone. He was so close, that she could imagine closing the distance between them, how his lips would feel on hers.
But she didn't, part of her wishing that they could just fix this gap between them, the other half wanting to push him away further, in case he hurt her like so many others had done. In case he left her.
Instead she settled on, "You're cute when you're worried."
To be fair, she had been in pain, and his hand had been on her head, the words slipping out before she could stop them.
"Your eyebrows get all scrunched together."
He flushed a little at that, his hand slowly removing from her head, "You are not going to die while I owe you a favour."
He paused for a second, "Why did you take that knife?"
Really, Annabeth didn't know why. It had been stupid and utterly reckless and dangerous, and such a Percy move, but it was the way they were, had always been.
"You would have done the same for me."
"How did you know?"
Annabeth froze then, confusion running through her mind, "Know what?"
She watched him then, watched as he had flickered his gaze around the room, watched as he moved closer to her, felt the way his breath tickled at her face, his voice barely above a whisper.
"My Achilles spot. If you hadn't taken that knife, I would have died."
A rod slammed itself into her heart, although she forced a neutral expression onto her face, as she thought back to that moment on the bridge, could feel the intensity of his gaze upon her.
"I don't know, Percy. I just had this feeling you were in danger. Where…" she paused for a second. Did she really want to know? After everything, would Percy even trust her? How much would it hurt if he didn't answer? "Where is the spot?"
A flicker of hesitation briefly appeared in his eyes, gone as quickly as it had come, Annabeth holding her breath for those few seconds. She understood why he wouldn't tell her. Why he wouldn't trust anyone with that information. He would be trusting his entire life to her. Annabeth steeled herself for the inevitable.
"The small of my back."
She almost froze, having to remind herself to breathe. The words had been soft, but after his brief moment of hesitancy, he had said them with a quiet conviction. Annabeth refused to look him in the eyes. Instead, as softly as she could, Annabeth reached her uninjured arm around his waist, under his shirt, onto his spine, "Where? Here?'
Her fingers tingled slightly, a prickling sensation which didn't hurt, but wasn't exactly comfortable.
Percy's hand reached around and clasped her hand, moving it slightly, and suddenly it was like Annabeth couldn't breathe. Electricity coursed through her body, and she had to force down a gasp, the feeling overwhelming, barely hearing Percy's next words.
"You saved me. Thanks"
Annabeth's heart was threatening to leap out of her chest, having to force her hand to move away from his spine, from that point. It took almost all of her strength, like she was trying to pull two magnets apart. Hiding her slight discomfort, she said weakly, "So you owe me. What else is new?"
"...Annabeth? Annabeth!"
Charmspeak washed over her, and suddenly Annabeth was back in Bunker 9, kneeling on the floor (when had that happened?), still twisted, looking over her shoulder at the scar, fingers pressed into the scar bundle at the small of her back.
Exactly where Percy had guided her fingers to almost a year ago. Exactly where his Achilles' spot was. Where he was connected to her through his mortal point.
She could hear Piper, but it was like she was underwater, and Annabeth had no Percy to stop her from drowning.
She could feel the vibrations of someone's footsteps on the floor, felt as whoever it was left the bunker, and suddenly Piper was in front of her again, looking almost larger than life.
"Annabeth, what's wrong?"
The charmspeak washed over her once more, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.
A choke tore itself from her throat.
Percy was gone.
Leo ran through Camp Half-Blood's forest, his heart thumping, chest wheezing as he ran. Despite months of training, running still wasn't his strong suit, but he would do it if the situation arose.
And this was certainly one of those situations. The look on Annabeth's face… Leo had seen her angry before, had a healthy level of fear and respect for her because of that… but this… well, frankly, this terrified Leo more than Annabeth being angry.
She was afraid.
And if something scared Annabeth… Annabeth who had been at camp for almost a decade, Annabeth who had gone on multiple quests, fought in a war against titans with only a knife… well, if whatever it was scared her, then it should most definitely scare Leo as well. Even more so in fact.
He didn't think he had ever seen anyone look so pale, the way the realisation had sunk into her eyes, her hand ghosting over the scar clump at the small of her back.
It was like all of her worst nightmares had come true, and despite a rocky start to their relationship, he and Piper and Jason had found a quiet sense of belonging with the older demigod.
She had almost been their mentor in a sense, despite her being in and out of camp for the better half of the year, still searching for Percy. But the last couple of weeks she had spent here, planning with Jas-
He slammed into a chest, rebounding onto his ass. He winced, looking up into the eyes of the very centaur he had been sent to fetch.
Chiron raised his eyebrow, opening his mouth to speak, but Leo got there first, trying to speak through gulps of air, "Annabeth… scar… collapsed…"
Chiron's brow furrowed, something which Leo had learned meant he was worried. Of course, Annabeth had been at camp so long, she was probably like a daughter to him.
With barely much of a glance in Leo's direction, the camp mentor scooped him up by the scruff of his neck, depositing on his back, with nothing more than a terse, "Hold on," before they set off, Leo holding onto the coattails of the centaur's jacket.
They arrived at the bunker in a matter of minutes, and Leo half fell half stumbled off of Chiron's back, catching his leg slightly on the way down.
Righting himself, Leo attempted to light his hand on fire, pressing his palm against the stone of the entrance to the bunker.
Worry lanced through his heart, though, his body suddenly bursting into flames.
Panic clung to his chest suddenly, memories of his mom flashing before his eyes. He closed them, forcing a few panicked breaths before they evened out, pulling the fire back into his body.
The stone door opened in front of them, and Chiron was moving inside before Leo registered it.
Man that centaur is fast, he thought to himself, running in after Chiron, albeit still huffing from his previous run through the woods.
The scene he came back to wasn't any better than the one he left.
In fact it almost seemed worse.
Annabeth was fully on the floor now, body curled in on itself, head shoved between her legs, rocking as she let out loud, choking sobs.
Piper must have managed to at least get the older demigod's shirt back on, and his friend was now sitting next to Annabeth, rubbing soothing circles on her back, and even from here, Leo could feel the charmspeak in her voice, feeling his own panic recede. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working for Annabeth.
Feeling slightly out of place, Leo went and stood next to Jason, who was watching awkwardly from a corner, concern on his face.
Leo raised his eyebrow, and Jason shrugged, so they stood there in silence as Chiron approached Annabeth.
"Annabeth, my child," the centaur said gently, placing his hand on her shoulder. The rocking and sobbing stopped for a few seconds. Suddenly, in a flurry of limbs, Annabeth flung herself at Chiron, burying her face in the centaur's chest, gripping him tightly in what must have been a death grip. Chiron patted her back gently, rubbing like Piper had been doing before. He didn't speak, letting Annabeth cry, and Leo watched as she slowly crumpled back to the floor, exhausted from whatever misery she was going through.
The demigod sat there for a few seconds, looking absolutely wrecked, her face blotchy and pale, her body still shaking, chest heaving as she struggled to breathe.
Leo felt slightly awkward, felt like he shouldn't be here, watching Annabeth break down. But he wanted to be there for her as a friend, to tell her he understood the crushing weight which weighed down upon you.
She was grieving. He could see it, remembered the feeling, those nights in the foster care system, when life had hit hard one too many times, when he wished for the return of his mother.
They stayed there, each of them silent, Piper kneeling once more on the floor next to Annabeth, rubbing her back.
The demigod's eyes were trained on nothing and everything, a deep hollowness in them which almost overwhelmed Leo. It was like someone had ripped her soul from her body, leaving Annabeth a shell.
Then, she spoke, her voice crackling with the two words, eyes already filling with tears as she looked into Chiron's eyes.
"Find Grover."
Somehow, they managed to get Annabeth back to Big House, swaying though she was.
There was a determination set in her eyes, although Jason didn't think he would ever be able to clear the image of that haunted look in Annabeth's eyes from before.
The way she had crumpled to the floor, her hand hovering over the scar, like she had seen it before, like she knew what it meant.
Something about that scar scared her.
Jason, as far as he could remember (there were still some memories eluding him), had never seen a scar that shape before.
Whatever it meant, it was bad. He just hoped that this Grover character could fix it. Whatever it even was.
A hand slid into his own, comforting and warm, squeezing gently.
He looked over at Piper, who smiled comfortingly at him, but even though they had only known each other for about eight months, he could see the worry buried in her eyes.
He tangled his fingers in her own, squeezing back.
Whatever was happening, they would figure it out. Together.
The four of them were a team, Annabeth, Piper, Leo and himself, and in a week, they would hopefully be adding Percy and two others to their little band.
Following Annabeth and Chiron up the stairs and into the council room, Jason sent a questioning look to Leo, who shrugged, watching as Annabeth started rustling through the drawers, muttering to herself.
Jason felt slightly useless, wanted to help, but he didn't really know what to do.
"Annabeth," Chiron said, interrupting the demigod's muttering and frantic searching. "May I remind you that no one can help you if you don't tell us what's wrong. Leo said you had a scar, could I look at it?"
Darkness shuttered over Annabeth's face, a dangerous glint appearing in her eyes, shaking her head even before she spoke.
"No," she growled, the world coming out as a snarl. "It's bad enough that they saw."
Jason's eyes flicked over to both Leo and Piper, watching the hurt on their face, in fact he probably looked the same, slightly indignant and pained. He felt shocked.
Sure, there had been a rocky start to their friendship, but to have Annabeth say something with such disgust…
No. There was something else going on here, something that not one of them, including Chiron, was getting.
Chiron must have seen the look on all of their faces, gently placing his hand on Annabeth's shoulder as she continued the search.
"Annabeth," he repeated with a soft sigh, disappointment laced in his tone. "Percy wouldn't want this."
That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, Annabeth turning to Chiron, her brows furrowing once more into darkness, like the calm before the storm.
"Don't talk to m- I… Per-" her voice trailed off once more into sobs, collapsing on the couch, letting Chiron put a comforting arm around her. "He's gone. Percy. He- he- he's dead."
Silence descended over the room, only broken by Annabeth's sobs.
Jason felt confused. How did she know that? And why would that have anything to do with that scar, or some guy named Grover?
Worry flickered over Chiron's face, something which made Jason feel more scared. Sure, he had heard a lot of stories of the son of Poseidon, had heard stories of feats which impressed even him, but if Chiron was worried that Percy might be dead, worried enough that he lost his composure for a second, then what chance did they have without the guy, if he was dead, as Annabeth had insinuated?
"Annabeth, what makes you think that?"
It took Jason a second to realise that the question had come from his own mouth, and he regretted it immediately as she levelled a glare at him.
"I don't," she hissed at him, anger trumping whatever grief she was feeling. "I.. I don't know. But there's a high possibility that he's dead."
She turned her gaze back to Chiron, and once more, that calmness to her countenance had returned, "That's why I need Grover back here. I need to know if he can still sense Percy through their empathy link."
Chiron released a small sound from his throat, before he nodded,"I'll ask one of the satyrs to find him. For now I think you need to rest. We all need to rest."
Hesitation crept onto Annabeth's face, and she almost seemed to become smaller, pulling herself into a ball.
"Can I-" she paused, looking anywhere but Chiron, her face troubled. "Can I stay in Cabin 3 tonight?"
The request came out as a whisper, almost like she was ashamed to ask.
Chiron paused for a second, before he sighed, smiling sadly at her, "If it makes you feel better, child. Go on."
Annabeth flung herself a Chiron, wrapping the centaur in a tight hug.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Piper didn't sleep much that night, tossing and turning in her bed, mulling over the day. The way Annabeth had seemed… well, Piper had thought that the two of them were close. Today had just been a slap in the face, a reminder that Annabeth had a past that Piper wasn't aware of.
A past which contained her missing (possibly dead) boyfriend, one which she didn't like to talk about. A past which contained one Percy Jackson, reminding Piper that maybe she didn't have as steady a relationship with the daughter of Athena as she thought she did.
The irrational part of Piper couldn't help but wonder, wonder if maybe Annabeth was only clinging onto Piper, Leo and Jason because she didn't have Percy, wondered that if it had been another camper who had gone missing if Annabeth would even spare them a second glance, or if she and Percy would ignore them.
Even then, Piper knew that was wrong. But another part of her wondered if Annabeth was only spending time with them because they were her means of getting to Percy.
She forced down a sob, the look of derision on Annabeth's face when she had said "It's bad enough they saw" etched into Piper's brain forever.
Piper turned over, pulling the sheets around her shoulders tighter.
"Piper," something touched her shoulder, and she was immediately sitting up, ready to deal with whichever of her siblings wanted her this late at night.
She blinked in confusion, staring at the empty space surrounding her bed, her siblings safely tucked into their own blankets.
Suddenly, Annabeth was there, a blue, beaten Yankees cap clasped in her hands. She looked no better than when she had left the Big House.
"I know it's late. But, can we talk?"
Piper pushed whatever emotions she had been feeling before, her anger slightly draining away at the sight of the daughter of Athena, who looked smaller than Piper had ever seen her.
"Ok," she responded, shuffling out of her blankets, following her friend out to sit on the veranda of the Aphrodite cabin.
For a few minutes they sat in silence, and Piper drank in the comfortableness, despite the tension which was in the air.
Annabeth sighed, breathing through her nose, and Piper waited.
"I'm sorry about this afternoon," Annabeth whispered, her voice hoarse, And Piper finally took the time to fully observe the other girl.
Her hair was a tangled mess, eyes rimmed with red, the blue hoodie she was wearing far too large for it to be hers.
Probably Percy's, Piper thought, a lump in her throat forming, as the thoughts from earlier threatened to overtake her.
Annabeth rubbed her shoulder, tugging at her curls, silence once more encroaching on them.
"Percy… he-" she choked, before taking a shaky breath, continuing on, despite the waver in her voice. "He was the first person to really believe in me. The first person who… the first person in my life who… stayed. And if I'm being honest? My first friend."
A pause.
Piper reached over, wrapping an arm around Annabeth's shoulders, letting her friend rest her head in the crook of her neck.
"During the war, last year," Annabeth sniffled. "He- Percy… well, I suppose he knew he wouldn't survive if he went up against Lu-Kronos by himself. So, he… he, uh, bathed in the River Styx."
Piper sucked in a breath, the implications settling in. If Percy bathed in the Styx… did that mean…
"He became invincible," Piper whispered, shivering slightly. From what she had heard, the son of Poseidon was already powerful. Adding invincibility on top of that… well, he would have been formidable.
"Not quite," Annabeth replied, burrowing her body closer into Piper's, wiping away tears which had begun to fall. "He had to choose a spot. A mortal point, a weak spot."
"Like with Achilles and his heel," Piper said, the dots starting to connect, pain shooting through her heart as everything fell into place. "The scar…"
Piper felt Annabeth nod against her body.
"It was where his Achilles' heel was," Annabeth whispered, choking slightly.
Piper rubbed her friend's back, the full implications of the information overload hitting her.
In the myths, or she supposed in history, Achilles had died when his mortal point had been pierced.
Something didn't sit right with her about the story…
"I still don't really understand how this has anything to do with the scar…" Piper trailed off, feeling Annabeth tense next to her, before she relaxed with a huffed breath.
"Percy had to choose something to anchor him to the mortal world… something, or… or someone who kept him mortal," a pause. "Like when Achilles' mother held him in the Styx… I- Percy never told me what he had seen, but he always made it clear that it had been me he had seen…"
A pang of jealousy slammed into Piper's heart without meaning to. A lot of her siblings had called the love between "Percabeth", as they had been dubbed, as the "purest thing on this Earth".
Piper hadn't believed them, not really. Even seeing how much Annabeth cared about her boyfriend, it hadn't quite hit her.
There had even been talk of Percy once turning down immortality because of Annabeth. Piper had never quite gotten up the courage to ask Annabeth about it, or at least she had said that to herself. In truth, she knew that she was already slightly jealous of a relationship she had never once witnessed.
Truly, Piper was jealous that she and Jason didn't have a relationship like that.
She pushed down those thoughts, squeezing Annabeth tighter, letting the older girl cry silently.
She didn't know how to respond.
So, as Annabeth had comforted Piper on her first day at camp, she sat there and gave her friend comfort.
Whatever had happened, even if Percy was dead, Piper was going to drag his dead ass back to the living and beat him for hurting her friend.
Percy had no clue what he had done to gain Piper's ire, but he really wished that the daughter of Aphrodite would stop glaring at him like that.
He hadn't noticed it at first, at least not when he was finally seeing Annabeth again.
But now that they were back from getting supplies for the ship, and everything had mostly settled down, the niggling sense of danger which had been in his head (and had ignored) since the ship had landed in New Rome had pointed to Piper.
And Annabeth had left the two of them on the top deck of the ship on lookout, Jason still nursing an injured head, Hazel and Frank promising to take the next lookout shift.
Percy shuffled slightly, starting to feel a little annoyed at her silent treatment.
He huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of his face, as it landed across his face, trying to focus outward.
He lasted all of about a minute, although it felt much longer.
"What exactly is your problem with me?" he asked, not meaning the words to come out as harsh and as frustrated as they did.
Piper blinked slightly, clearly surprised that he had noticed, before she continued to glare at him, a snort of amused, angry laughter following.
"I know people like you, Percy Jackson," she said.
A flicker of something hit him, anger, or maybe shock. A little hint of surprise.
"What?"
"You can't," she threw her hands up, moving closer to him, almost stalking him. "You haven't even apologised to Annabeth!"
"Apo- what?" Percy wasn't even sure how to respond to that. "Well, geez, Piper. I didn't realise that you were an expert on my relationship with Annabeth."
Silence descended over the ship.
"She hasn't told you yet, has she?"
Percy's heart constricted.
"Told me what?"
He watched as something else other than anger crossed Piper's face. Confusion and need to find Annabeth and ask her almost overwhelmed him. Except he was stuck up here, on the deck of a ship with someone who hated him, and Annabeth was busy fixing the ship.
"Look," Percy said, cutting Piper off before she could begin speaking again. "Can we just start over?"
Her mouth closed, which, under any normal circumstances, would have made Percy laugh, but he was just tired of people misunderstanding him before they even met.
Especially when he had no clue what he had done to create that misunderstanding.
For a few seconds, Piper studied him, before she sighed, "Fine, I suppose."
Percy grinned, the tension he had been feeling for the past day finally leaving his body as he reached over to shake her hand.
She came over to stand next to him, and he leaned over the rails, letting the wind rustle through his hair.
Usually he didn't like flying, but being on a ship somehow made him feel more comfortable with the aspect.
"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable," Piper said, holding onto the railing.
"You could tell me what you meant by, 'she hasn't told you yet, has she?', and we'll call it even…"
Piper shook her head, "I shouldn't have even mentioned it. Annabeth said she would talk to you about it."
Percy let out a short bark of laughter. He knew Annabeth. Knew her better than she knew herself sometimes. His girlfriend was good at keeping things close to her chest.
"What was that for?" Piper said, giving him a look of confusion.
"You don't really know much about Annabeth, do you?" he replied, feeling a little vindication at watching Piper bristle at the comment.
"I know her plenty well," she bit back, although there was no real heat to it. "I was there for her when you weren't. When she spent the entire night crying, 'cause she thought you were dead."
Percy closed his eyes, letting the gentle breeze brush away the tears which had formed. Annabeth rarely ever cried. Percy only really had two recorded instances of it. The first time had been when she thought he was dead after Mount St. Helen's, although he had not been there for that, he had seen her red-rimmed eyes before she had almost broken his ribs hugging him. The second had been after the Titan War, a night spent with both of them curled up on his living room couch, tears streaming freely as they both dealt with the overwhelming guilt of being alive.
"Thank you," he whispered into the night.
Piper was being thoroughly confused by Percy Jackson.
He was hard to read and quite honestly, had put her through so many emotions in just one short conversation alone, that she wasn't even sure what to think of him.
Particularly when he said thank you.
She wanted him to feel bad, she wanted him to feel… Piper wasn't sure what she wanted him to feel.
She wanted to argue with him. Wanted to yell at him, wanted him to yell back.
"For what?"
She watched his reaction, studying his face as he closed his eyes, hair ruffling in the wind as the Argo 2 continued its flight.
For someone who had been said to be powerful, one of the most powerful demigods of his time, he certainly didn't look it.
Or at least Piper didn't really see it.
He was lanky, about Jason's height, but with none of Jason's build. His hair always appeared to be windswept, long enough that if you straightened some of its natural curls, it would brush the top of his shoulders.
He didn't look like he could be the saviour of Olympus.
She wondered what Annabeth saw in him, then cursed herself. Annabeth could make her own decisions about why she was with someone, and besides, as Percy himself had pointed out, he and Annabeth had more of a history together, knew each other better than Piper would probably ever know the daughter of Athena she had come to think of as a best friend.
Percy shrugged, turning his green eyes onto her, sadness hidden away in their murky depths.
This was at least one thing the accounts she had heard had gotten right.
Percy's eyes were a sea green, although murky in the half-light. They were the only stark, almost inhuman thing about him.
Looking into them, Piper could almost imagine what it would be like for those to be the last thing she saw.
She shivered.
"Annabeth," he began slowly, chuckling softly to himself as he rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. "Annabeth… she-"
He stopped there, taking a shuddering breath, staring at his hands, a frown on his face, almost as though he was thinking about what to say.
"Annabeth's spent her entire life watching people break their promises to her," he paused, and Piper saw something like regret etched into his face. Percy sighed. "Me included in that."
Piper frowned, observing the son of Poseidon.
Something crumbled in her chest, and guilt overwhelmed her. She had only known Percy a few days, and yet she had already formed a prejudiced opinion against him, something she had promised herself not to do. And yet the way camp spoke so highly of him, the way Annabeth spoke so highly of him had made Piper want to hate him. She couldn't understand it.
"I fail to see how Hera was your fault," she said, not quite sure how to apologise just yet. "I mean, it's not like you asked to get kidnapp-"
"No," he said, the word holding pain and anguish as he continued to not look at her. "I… Annabeth has always been the person I could rely on, you know? I didn't exactly want to be a demigod… especially not a son of Poseidon. But Annabeth, she was there, since the beginning. And I-" His voice cracked slightly. "I wasn't exactly there for her as well as I should have been."
Another pause as he took a breath, his shoulders moving slightly up, his gaze flickering down to his hands once more, brow furrowed.
Piper stayed silent. She didn't know what to say.
"In the lead up to the Titan war," Percy continued, his entire body holding a tension, and in that moment, the darkness hiding the top of his face, only slightly illuminated by the moon and lights on the Argo, Piper could see the warrior who had stopped the Titan Lord. "We fought a lot. Huge spats, and days later, we'd pretend like nothing had happened. The worst one was just before. I suppose I'd gotten so caught up in everything, tried to pretend that it wasn't happening, that there wasn't a huge possibility I would never see past my sixteenth birthday that I… I didn't know the toll it had taken on her."
His eyes closed, chin tilted towards the sky, as he took another breath, shoulders releasing some of their tension.
"Somehow we had become more distant, and I hadn't even noticed. I didn't want to be like everyone else in her life, but somehow, I had become just like them."
Percy laughed, a self-deprecating laugh, shaking his head slightly.
"I promised myself that if I got the chance, I would make it right."
"That doesn't sound much like your fault," Piper said. She was starting to get a better glimpse at who Percy was now.
Percy snorted, glancing at her from underneath his fringe, "You really think so?"
"I don't think Annabeth blames you for it, at least," she responded. "It sounds like you both just went through a rough patch in your friendship. Stressful situations can do that to a person."
This time, the son of Poseidon laughed, a full laugh, shoulders shaking, before he quietened down, smiling softly, the tension gone from his body.
"You don't know half of what went down during those years, it was far more complicated than that," he said, this time with no bite.
A sense of warmth settled over Piper, and it took her a second to realise that she too was smiling.
"Maybe I don't," she said, teasing back in kind. "But I know that whatever you think you've done, Annabeth's probably forgiven you for it anyway… I mean, despite our circumstances, I don't think I've seen her smile as much as she has around you."
Percy was now looking at her with an odd expression on his face, whatever he saw must have been sufficient, because he simply nodded at her.
"You can be pretty wise, you know that right?" there was a teasing lilt to his voice once more. "I'm honestly surprised you weren't another daughter of Athena, but it makes sense for you to be a daughter of Aphrodite."
"What does that mean?" Piper asked, indignation rising up, although she was surprised to find that it wasn't borne from any sense of anger.
Percy shrugged, "I dunno, it just fits."
"You know…" Piper began, grinning slightly.
"Yeah?" Percy responded, head tilted, a bemused expression on his face.
"I actually was kinda hoping that I would be a daughter of Athena. Just so Annabeth could be my sister."
The admission was strange, felt strange. The only person she had admitted that to was Annabeth. She half-expected Percy to laugh, but instead he was nodding his head, a far off gaze in his eyes.
"Yeah, Annabeth doesn't realise it, but she can have that effect on people," Percy said, soft smile as his thoughts quite clearly turned to his girlfriend.
"What?" Piper said, snorting at the sudden thought that had popped into her brain. "Did you want to be a son of Athena as well when you first met Annabeth."
Percy's shoulders shook, the laughter overtaking his body, and Piper laughed along with him. In a way, he reminded her a little of Leo, except he was better at hiding what he was thinking.
"Gods, no," he said, still chuckling, turning into silence as he shook his head, the smile on his face remaining. "Annabeth and I had a… mutual dislike of each other to begin with."
"Was it 'cause she was a daughter of Athena, and you were a son o-"
"No," Percy said, looking over at her, cheeky grin plastered on his face, eyes twinkling mischievous. "Not after I accidentally sprayed her with toilet water after Clarisse tried to give me a swirly."
Piper choked, "What?"
"Yeah," Percy responded. "No one can ever beat me blowing up the toilets on my first day."
"Wait," Piper said, grinning, Percy's genuine smile infectious. "Then how exactly did the two of you end up being friends? And how exactly did Annabeth get covered in toilet water?"
Percy shrugged, "Annabeth was giving me a tour of camp. Clarisse wanted to 'put me in my place' for defeating the minotaur."
He sighed, and despite the silence which was already surrounding them, save for the flap of the sails, the little bubble they were standing in became silent.
"As for when Annabeth and I became friends?" he shrugged. "Must have been partway through the quest I had to go on that Summer. Don't really know if there was one point when we became friends, but if I had to say somewhere during that quest? It was after we got back Ares' shield and in the animal truck. It was the first time the two of us actually talked to each other."
Piper gave him a blank look, "Okay, after this quest is done, I'm going to need a laydown of what the hell that was."
Percy grinned, "Sure thing."
It was Piper's turn to sigh, "You know…"
"Yeah?"
"I actually kinda wish that I had the relationship you have with Annabeth-"
"-but with Jason?" he finished, that same look he had on his face moments before, studying her. It was something she was coming to know as his 'neutral face'.
"Yeah," she said, staring dejectedly down at her hands.
"If it makes you feel any better, Annabeth and I did have like three years of friendship to go off of when we got together," he offered, shrugging. "Look, honestly? I don't know you or Jason that well. And to be fair with you, I'm still scared that Annabeth's gonna dump me. And that feeling is probably never gonna go away."
"I just," Piper stopped, not sure how to continue. "Is it bad that I feel jealous?"
Percy paused, cocking his head to the side for a few seconds, studying her once more.
"No," he said slowly. "I don't think it's bad. I think it's probably… normal?"
Piper shrugged, glaring down at her hands, "You think so?"
"I don't know," he whispered into the night. "I don't think I've ever been jealous of other people's relationships, so I can't really tell you."
"Thanks," Piper said, feeling something tug at her heart. "I don't know what my problem is, but it just…"
She sighed.
"You don't have a problem," Percy said, smiling softly at her. "Maybe you should talk to Jason about this. Then maybe the two of you can figure it out together."
"I don't…" Piper stopped. If she admitted this, if she put it out in the open… "I don't even know if this relationship was my choice, or something manipulated by my mother and Hera."
Percy was silent for a few seconds.
"Did you know, I met your mom once?"
Sne snorted, "Really?"
"Yeah," he said, flickering his gaze out into the inky blackness surrounding them. "Annabeth had been kidnapped, and we had reason to believe Artemis had also been kidnapped. I only went on the quest because I knew Annabeth was alive and wanted to save her. Your mom showed up at one point to tell me that she was going to make my love life… interesting."
"Your point?" Piper asked. She didn't mean to sound snappy, but she wasn't quite sure where this was going.
Percy sighed.
"The gods…" he flickered his gaze around a bit. "They think of us as entertainment… sort of."
"Sort of?" Piper asked, frowning at him.
Percy twisted his hands, frowning slightly, "Well… they don't explicitly see us as entertainment, but we are. It's just… something they've done since, well, the beginning of their existence I suppose."
"Like a habit," Piper said. "They don't really mean to, it just happens?"
"Yeah, sort of?" Percy lifted his shoulders before sighing. "All I'm saying is maybe you want to take some time, more time with Jason after all this is done. Believe me, trying to have a heart to heart in the middle of quests never goes well."
"You have a lot of experience with that than?" Piper grinned, a mock gasp of pain coming from Percy as he clutched at his chest dramatically.
"How dare you, Piper," he said, trying to hide the grin which was appearing behind the dramatics of it all. "And I thought we were friends."
The eye contact lasted all of about thirty seconds, before it gave into snorts of laughter, which eventually quietened down into a comfortable silence.
"So," Piper began, Percy raising an eyebrow in response. "Are we friends? Even after I was kinda mean to you?"
Percy snorted, "If I held grudges against every person who was mean to me in the beginning, I'd have like, zero friends… well, except for Grover. Oh, and I would also have no girlfriend… so, yeah," he held out his hand, grinning as Piper shook it. "We can be friends."
The TV flickered before them, Annabeth curled into Percy's side. His finger circled the pulse point at her wrist, revelling in the way he could feel the soft thump of her pulse underneath, the warmth of her body pressed into him, the softness of her breath against his neck all reminding him that she was alive.
They had survived, but not without cost.
Annabeth sighed, somehow managing to press further into his side, her own fingers making swirling patterns on his leg.
Percy closed his eyes, letting his head rest on top of her own, breathing in as he wrapped his arms around her, revelling in the way Annabeth let out a huffed laugh, her head buried in the crook of his neck.
Percy could stay like this forever.
They hadn't gotten much time with just the two of them since… well, Percy wasn't quite sure. Probably before he had been kidnapped by Hera, and he had missed this.
Missed being able to curl up on the couch in his mom's apartment with her, missed spending time with her, with little worry about the world ending or being attacked, just the two of them.
He grinned, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
Annabeth blinked blearily up at him, yawning as she smiled up at him.
Then he yawned, which set off a chain reaction of yawns, the two of them trying hard to stifle their snorts as their heads bumped against one another.
Finally they settled down, their bodies still shaking in silent laughter.
Yes, Percy could spend the rest of his life like this.
This time it was Annabeth who kissed him, her lips barely brushing against his, and he sighed into it, the soft tug of her fingers through his hair like paradise.
When they pulled away, their noses were brushing, foreheads still pressed together.
"I love you," Percy whispered out, almost involuntary. It felt right to say it.
The room was silent, except for the soft background noises coming from the tv, and their breathing.
Annabeth pulled away, her hands moving from where they were wrapped around his neck, trailing down to entangle them in his own hands, pulling them up to her face before gently brushing her lips against his knuckles.
Percy felt like his heart was about to implode.
Annabeth had never been good with emotions.
No.
That was wrong.
Maybe?
She had emotions, she just struggled to express them.
That was it.
It had confused Percy, to begin with.
But over the years he had gotten better at reading her, became even greater at reading her when they finally stopped being idiots and got together.
While others would have taken Annabeth as not responding with 'I love you too' as an obstacle in their relationship, Percy knew her actions more than made up for it.
She was trying to say it, she just hadn't had enough practice. Percy was fine with that.
He would wait for an eternity.
Percy Jackson loved Annabeth Chase, and Annabeth Chase loved Percy Jackson. It was a fact of life.
They both knew it, and that was all that mattered.
Percy knew that Annabeth preferred actions to words anyway.
Words could easily be broken, actions, not so much.
"Hey," Annabeth said, untangling one of her hands from his, brushing a lock of hair out of his face. Percy was suddenly reminded of his need to get a haircut. Or maybe he should let it grow out a little. "You in there, Seaweed Brain?"
Percy felt his grin get impossible wide, laughing quietly, taking back her hand, squeezing both of them in his.
They were larger than hers now, and yet they fit perfectly together.
He hummed back in response, heart beating faster still as her own smile widened, genuine, happy.
To anyone who would have walked into the room, they would have looked like grinning fools, but Percy didn't care. He would forever cherish the moments like this.
Then Annabeth's expression grew serious, and Percy's heart started to still as the feeling in the room slowly changed.
"Can we talk?" Annabeth said, her hands nervously wriggling in his own.
Percy nodded, letting her hands go as she rubbed them on her thighs, a nervous tick she had never quite gotten rid of.
She took a few steadying breaths, her body shaking a little.
"I need to show you something, ok?"
Percy nodded, giving her time, despite the way he desperately wanted to ask her what was wrong.
She shifted her body so her back was facing him, her hands reaching across herself as she tugged her shirt up by the hem.
Annabeth paused, briefly glancing back at him, Percy's heart in his throat, "Promise you won't freak out too much?"
Percy blinked, his heart once more starting to speed up, but this time for completely different reasons.
"I'll try not to," he said, voice wavering.
Annabeth's shirt slipped off, and Percy felt everything come to a grinding halt.
The web-like structure almost glowed silver in the half light, branching out across her back.
If it wasn't so terrible, the pattern would be beautiful.
"Percy?" Annabeth whispered, and suddenly Percy remembered to breathe. "I thought you promised you wouldn't freak out on me too much."
The tone was teasing, but it fell flat, her voice shakier than Percy's nerves.
Softly, unsure of what he was doing, Percy let his hand brush against the interconnecting web of scars across Annabeth's back. She shivered, before leaning into the touch.
"Who did this to you?" he finally managed, throat dry.
Annabeth tensed, flickering her gaze back, sniffling as a few tears escaped her usual stoic demeanour.
His mind suddenly wandered back to the conversation he had with Piper, during one of his first nights on the Argo.
Percy had never exactly learned what Piper had meant by some of her comments, although with not much time to ponder them, they had sat at the back of his mind, just dwelling there.
Why would Annabeth think he was dea-
His hand, which had been absently trailing along scars, following their path came to the centre of all of them, a clump of white tissue, right in the small of her back.
Oh.
Oh.
He flickered his gaze up, eyes finding Annabeth's, her grey eyes, staring at him. Watching. Waiting.
Not for the first time, Percy was glad that he and Annabeth could read each other so well.
He didn't think he would be able to articulate the thought in his brain. But all it took for Annabeth to understand what he was saying was a prolonged look, one of horror as he connected the dots.
She nodded.
Percy let out a choked noise.
He had done this to her.
His hands trembled as he raised them, pulling her body into his, her sobs barely registering in his brain as he tugged her closer to him.
She scrambled to get a purchase on him, hands fisting into his shirt as her body shook.
His brain felt heavy, like he was wading through mud.
He was very much aware that he wasn't all there, and yet also very much not.
He was aware that Annabeth was pressed into his body, sobs wrenching the air, but for a few scary seconds, the world went deadly still, everything feeling like it was happening to someone else.
The world spun, before it all came crashing down, and suddenly his heart was beating too fast, his body was shaking too much, the tv was too loud, he was too warm, too cold, too, too much.
And then he realised that not all the keening, sobbing noises were coming from Annabeth as he gripped her tighter.
This was all his fault.
Percy was the reason Annabeth was sat here, crying for all she was worth, and he mentally added it to reasons he had failed her.
He didn't deserve her.
Simultaneously he wanted to wrap her up for the rest of eternity, so no one could ever touch her again. So no one would hurt her.
What was it he had been thinking about actions before?
By the time Annabeth's sobs had receded, to be replaced by the occasional hiccough, Percy had finally come back down to reality.
"I was so scared," Annabeth whispered, her nails digging into his skin, reminding Percy of his once again vulnerability. Of those scars, beautiful and horrifying, which now covered the expanse of her back. "We were a week out from leaving, and I thought that I was too late. That I'd spent the past eight months searching for nothing. That we'd get to Camp Jupiter to be told that you had died in a blaze of glory."
Percy wrapped his legs around her, pressing as much of his face as he could feasibly press into her hair, taking a shuddering breath as he tried to steady himself.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, pushing her back so he could look at her face. "I- I'm so sorry, Annabeth."
If he had known that losing his Achilles' spot would have led to this… well Percy wasn't quite sure. He had had no other choice at the time, with barely any memories to go off of, and yet… he had chosen to bathe in the River Styx in the first place, had chosen her as his one mortal point to keep him tethered…
She loosened one of her hands from its almost too painful grip on his shirt, to gently touch his face.
"It wasn't your fault," she responded, pressing her face up, their noses brushing, foreheads pressed together.
Percy tangled one of his hands with her hand pressed against her cheek, squeezing as he forced himself to breathe.
Annabeth pulled away, leaving her hand entangled with his, weaving her legs through his own.
"It was just scary," she whispered, head resting on his chest as she played with his hand. "At first I was angry, so, so angry. Angry at you, angry at the Fates for taking you away from me. But I never blamed you. Not once."
Percy squeezed her hand again.
He didn't trust himself to speak.
Not yet.
"I didn't know what to do, what to think," she continued, almost as though she was treading softly towards him, like he was a skittish animal. "Everything was going so well. We finally had your general location, and while we were running slightly behind with the Argo, I was finally going to see you again."
A pause.
"You know," she said, slight giggling turning into hiccoughs, more tears running down her face. "I would sometimes practise in the mirror, what I would say to you, imagined all these scenarios, had all these plans in case you wouldn't remember me." Annabeth choked back a sob. "But in none of them. Not a single one, did I imagine that you might be dead."
Percy wrapped his other arm around her, burying his face one more into her curls. He should say something, but he didn't know what.
"You… you've always been such a constant in my life," her voice started to waver again. "Before the Titan War, it was funny, you know? Cause I'd already tried to come to terms with the fact that you probably wouldn't live if we won? And then… and then…"
She sniffled, her chest heaving as she tried to gulp down air.
Percy felt as more tears ran down his cheeks, holding tightly onto Annabeth.
"And then," Annabeth continued, ploughing through, despite how shaky her voice had gotten, despite the way she was gulping for air as she attempted to silence the sobs threatening to spill from her chest. "And then you survived, and I got used to the idea of having you around for the rest of my life. Suddenly, the idea of you dying was something of the past. I didn't know what to do, when I was once again faced with the possibility of losing you. Of having already lost you, and not being able to do anything about it."
The silence stretched out, not uncomfortably, but more worn out.
They had both been through so much, Annabeth in particular.
She had lost so many, had so many people turn their backs on her. Had heard so many meaningless words.
Percy didn't want to give her meaningless words now though. Didn't want to promise her that he would be there forever, for the rest of their lives.
They would both know that it would be a lie.
Their lives were as dangerous as they were unstable. Percy could die tomorrow. Or he could die in seventy years.
You could never tell.
"You're my something permanent, as well," he chose to whisper instead. Her hand squeezed his own.
Annabeth peeled away from him, and he looked up, watched as she brushed the tear tracks from her face.
She moved onto her knees, cupping his face in both her hands, smiling a little, "You promise? Something permanent?"
Percy nodded, gently taking her face in his hands as well, wiping away the few stubborn tears on her face with his thumb.
"Always."
A/N Before anyone asks me "what about Luke's Achilles' spot?" well, uhhhhhhhhhh... Maybe it wasn't as big cause her and Percy are infinitely closer than her and Luke ever were? idk, i didn't think of that until after i wrote the almost 10k (and 18 pages on google docs) that this fic is...
