Annabeth

Annabeth forced Frank to take Jason up first. Percy was loosing serious amounts of blood, but Jason still hadn't shown many signs of life. Frank scooped up Jason and took off, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone again. She let his head rest on her lap and stroked his hair with one hand, the other having a tight grip on the remains of Riptide. She continuously scanned the horizon.

"Are... you sure you're okay?" Percy gasped. Every word out of his mouth seemed like an effort. Annabeth looked down at him, trying desperately to throw the fear from her appearance.

"I'm fine, Percy. It's you who needs help." She glanced back at his stab wound. His face was twisted with pain, but something new was in it. A sort of calm.

"What did he do?" Percy asked in a low voice. Annabeth felt a low punch in her gut. The fact that Percy was thinking of all the possibilities of what could have happened to her. And that all of them had happened to him. She felt the residual pain in her body like a dull ache. Her heart still hammered wildly, even after his death. His torture was terrifying, and Percy lived through that for a year.

"Nothing bad. I'm fine." She told him, but she could see the darkness in his eyes that he didn't believe her.

"Hey." Frank landed as an eagle and transformed back into a human. He walked briskly over to the two of them. "I don't want to leave either of you alone down here, but I can't carry both of you. I'm sorry."

"Frank, I swear to all the gods if you don't take Percy-" Annabeth began but then Percy cut her off.

"No don't... take me. You take her." He demanded. Annabeth looked at him in outrage.

"Frank he is bleeding out with a stab wound how-" She tried.

"I'm fine." He declared and tried to sit up. His face went white and and blinked heavily as Annabeth helped him back to a laying position.

"Sorry man. I'm taking you." Frank picked him up. Percy's face went whiter still as he looked back at Annabeth with glazed eyes.

"You can't... leave her here. You can't." Percy gasped.

"I'll be fine. Don't die on the way up." Annabeth voice choked.

"You don't die." He said forcefully.

"I promise." She whispered as Frank turned into an eagle and started flying. She watched him disappear in a pinpoint in the sky. When she was truly alone, she took a shuttering breath. She glanced back at the pile of dust that had once been a torturer. She blinked and looked away.

When he had held her down and beaten her, she had been less in control of her life than she ever had been. That is what had scared her. The fact that she could not get in control of the situation. As each hit had shot waves of pain through her body, she tried desperately to allow her mind to escape. Yet, all she could think of was that that moment, that loss of control, was a constant for Percy. Nearly every day for a year he had been trapped in that moment.

As Annabeth stood alone in Tartarus, her brain threatened t p. But she couldn't. If Percy was still looking up at her telling her that he was fine, then she could hold it together. For him. Because as horrible as it had been for her, it was so much worse for him.

Frank landed again and walked towards her.

"Is he okay? Both of them?" She demanded.

"They're taking them both to Camp. I thought we should wait for you, but Percy passed out. They thought it would be best to get him there quickly." Frank had his hands in his pockets.

"Okay." Annabeth exhaled. "As long as he's alive."

"Come on. We'll talk once we get out of here." Frank offered her his arms. As he flew her up, out of Tartarus, Annabeth wondered if that was how everything had happened. In the cave in Rome, if they had just talked later, maybe her and Percy wouldn't have fallen. Maybe they would all be happy right now.

They landed on the lip of the entrance and true to his word, Percy and Jason were gone. The only one still standing there was Grover who looked up at her expectantly.

"What happened? How did they get injured?" He asked forcefully. Annabeth took a deep breath, then tears rose in her eyes. Grover's gaze softened as he pulled her into a hug. The weight of everything settled over her.

"The monster who tortured Percy came back." Was all she said. Grover and Frank went silent and still.

"Is that who stabbed him?" Frank said in a hollow and horrified voice.

"Yeah." Annabeth muttered into Grover's shoulder.

"Is he okay? Like... beyond the stabbing?" Grover asked carefully. Annabeth could tell the real question in his voice. Did he just become traumatized beyond repair? Was this the final straw? Can he come back from this one?

"Somehow... I think yes." Was all she said. Frank and Grover looked at her for a while.

"Well, we should probably get back to camp." Frank grabbed both of their shoulders and started walking towards the path.

"Actually, I think I should probably go back to Percy's mom's house. I don't want her to wake up with him gone, she'll be terrified." Annabeth rolled her shoulder, pain shooting through her body. She ignored it. There were bigger issues.

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An hour later

Annabeth knocked on Sally Jackson's door once again. Delivering shocking news, once again. Annabeth sighed, thinking about all this poor woman had gone through. After everything with the Titan War, she thought she would have a break, then Percy disappeared for nearly two years, presumed dead, only to show back up completely traumatized. Add all that to a new born and Annabeth wondered how Sally Jackson was still functioning.

However, it wasn't Sally who opened the door. It was Paul.

"Annabeth! Oh thank god! Or gods or... whatever. I told Sally there had to be some explanation. But where is he? Is he safe? Is he okay?" Paul seemed frantic. His upset voice caused Estelle to start crying from the other room.

"Um, yes. He's alive. Is Sally here?" Annabeth peered into the empty room.

"Oh, good. I'm so glad he's okay. We woke up and he was gone, no note, no sign of struggle, nothing. We both went into a panic. And to answer your question: no, she is not here. She went to your camp. When she saw he was gone, she thought that would be the best place to go to help. Or at least for information." Paul sighed with relief after hearing that his step son was alive.

Annabeth felt a pang of guilt in her chest when she heard him say "or at least for information". Annabeth never thought about how helpless it must be to be Sally Jackson. Absolutely helpless to the wars and struggles her son went through, and driving hours just for scraps of information.

"Okay Paul, well, I'll go find her. I'll bring her back, okay?" Annabeth went to close the door.

"And Percy too, right?" Paul seemed almost nervous to ask. As if he was the reason as to why Percy left.

"I don't think I could drag him away from here." Annabeth said with a smile and headed off to camp.

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A couple of hours after that

Annabeth, Frank and Grover finally arrived at Camp Half-Blood to see Sally Jackson sitting just outside of the barrier, crying. Annabeth motioned for Frank and Grover to go inside, but Grover shook his head. He looked at Sally with concern and Annabeth had forgotten that they had been in communication for longer than Annabeth had known her. She and Grover walked over to the weeping mother as Frank made his exit.

"Sally?" Annabeth crouched by her side.

"Annabeth? Oh-" Sally choked out another sob. "They said he had been... stabbed. I can't go see him! I can't get past the barrier. I can see the camp, but I can't reach him." Sally looked down the hill at the camp. Annabeth felt another pang in her chest. She imagined being so close to him but unable to reach him.

"I'm sorry." Grover said quietly.

"No! I am his mother!" Anger rose in her voice. "He is in pain and I should be there to comfort him. That is my job!" He voice rose with every word.

"I can't help him." She said in shrunken voice.

"And..." Her voice shook, barely audible. "They wont even tell me what happened to him. Two years he was gone, and it's like he still is. I should be the one to help him. I should be able to help." She put her hand on the shield again as if her will alone could shatter the barrier. It remained sturdy as ever.

Grover took her hand. "Would it help if you knew what happened?" Annabeth shot him a look. Percy usually tried to shield his mom from those things.

"Please." Sally whispered.

And so Grover sat their and explained everything they knew. Everything Percy had said to Thalia in the woods, to Annabeth in his cabin, and everything that had happened in his return trip to Tartarus. Grover didn't leave out a single detail. He included every suspicion they had on what had happened to him, every time it looked like he was triggered, basically every single thought that had been shared about Percy for the last several weeks.

Sally was completely silent through the whole speech, then simply lowered her head and cried. Annabeth wrapped her arms around her and Grover did the same. After quite some time, she lifted her head and stared back down at camp.

"No." She shook her head. "Uh uh, I need to see him." She murmured to herself.

"I need to see him right now. I don't care how, you get me into this camp. You let me see my son." Her eyes shot to Annabeth and Grover. Annabeth slowly nodded and Grover stood up.

"I'll talk to Chiron." He ran down the hill. After several minutes of waiting, Grover came back up the hill with Chiron in tow. Chiron knelt his horse legs in front of the shield and Sally stood up, red rimmed eyes filled with determination. Chiron muttered to himself, hands on the shield. Annabeth frowned in confusion before she realized he was invoking a spell. Sally must have come to the same realization because she remained silent.

Chiron stood and extended a hand. Sally gazed at it for a minute and then looked back into his eyes.

"I, Chiron, trainer of heroes for eternity, hereby give Sally Jackson permission to enter our oasis and barrier, and thus extending knowledge of our secrets. Do you, Sally Jackson, accept this offer?" He looked at her, a grim sincerity echoing across his face.

"Yes." She breathed and took his hand, finally crossing the shield after all this time. The two of them walked down the hill, Annabeth and Grover following. They approached the cabin door in which he was being held.

For all of her previous determination, Sally now seemed hesitant to open the door. Annabeth reached over and grabbed her hand, and they walked in together.

Percy lay on the bed, pale, injured, but sleeping peacefully. Sally's face twisted with grief as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him. With tears threatening to fall, she smoothed out wrinkles on this shirt.

"I'm sorry." Was all she said before she bowed her head and laid on his chest, listening to every breath he made, and grieving for the parts of her son that really did die.

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