Poseidon's P.O.V.
I was lounging in my underwater palace, wondering if I should go wish my son happy birthday. He was turning seventeen and all... He had just gotten back from saving our asses again, and he was at home with Sally, resting. At least, he was supposed to be. He was the last time I had checked, but that had been a little over half an hour ago.

I had just decided to go when an Iris Messaged flashed into sight before me. In the image, was a blonde girl with an orange shirt on and she was sobbing. "Annabeth!?" I asked, startled. "Annabeth, what's wrong?"

"Car... Accident... Hospital... Percy... Surgery..." Was all I could understand as she tried to talk between sobs.

"Annabeth, where are you? I'm coming, okay? I'll be right there, just hold on." Suddenly, a man appeared behind the daughter of Athena. It was Gabe Ugliano.

"Who are you talking to, bitch? Stop crying, girl. The punk got what he deserved. Go home and forget about the little shit. He's not your problem. You'll most likely never see him again. Doctors are tryin', but they're not hopeful that he'll pull through. Humph. Serves him right..." He walked way as Annabeth whirled to face him, her gray eyes flashing dangerously, her hands clenched..

"Percy doesn't deserve anything he's gone through!" She screamed at him as he walked off. Then she collapsed to the floor in helpless devastation.

"Annabeth, I'm coming! He's not worth it. Just... Hang on, okay?" I waited until I saw her nod, then I swiped my hand through the IM and disappeared in a flash. I immediately reappeared next to her. I looked around, we were in a hospital. "Annabeth," I placed my hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me with watery eyes. Can you tell me what happened?" I asked gently. She nodded and took a shaky breath.

"Sally was taking Percy to the airport, we were going to spend his birthday together, and they-they got in... in a..." She broke down again and I held her close. "In a car accident. They were both severely injured. S-Sally just got out of surgery, but she's not looking that good. They think she's going to die. And they just took... took P-Percy into surgery. The car rammed into the passenger's side, so Percy was hit the worst. Th-they had to cut him out of the car. They won't tell me the extent of his injuries and I just..." Annabeth sobbed and shook in my arms. "I can't... I can't lose him." She whispered, like saying that possibility out loud would make it happen, make it real. She looked up at me, her grey eyes filled with tears. Annabeth looked vulnerable, she never broke down like this. There was always a logical explanation, a plan to get everyone out okay. But she couldn't seem to be able to think of a plan that ended up with Percy being okay.

I looked down at her, my own eyes filling with horror. Sally could die. My son, my favorite son, my Percy, could die. I didn't realize I was crying until I felt Annabeth wrap her arms around me, comforting me as she was comforting herself. She loved my son. More than anyone. She had found her other half, her soulmate. She had lost so much, I understand that she wouldn't be able to take it if she lost him too.

We sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half before Percy got out of surgery. We had gone to see Sally, but we couldn't stay. It was too hard to see her there. So we came back out here. Then, after an hour and a half of waiting, agonizing, of praying to the other gods that he wouldn't die, he got out. The doctors told us that he was blinded, permanently. He had several broken ribs, five fractures in his legs, and all the bones in his right hand had been crushed. Also, he had minor internal bleeding, but they had fixed that right away. But he was alive. They weren't sure if he would make it though. And they thought that even if he did, he would never be able run very fast, if at all, and he would most likely never regain the use of his hand. Annabeth broke down sobbing again and I had a million thoughts running through my brain.

Not being able to run, he's a demigod! He needs be able to run! If he can't, he could get overtaken by monsters! they would swarm him; he'd never have a peaceful second. Even when he sleeps he'll need to be on high alert! And without the use of his right hand, he wouldn't be able to wield riptide! He'd be defenseless! What am I going to do!? I thought frantically. 

(A/N I don't know how to change to bold or italics, so sorry if it gets a bit confusing about whether they're thinking or not. I'll try my best to make it obvious. *smiles* Please forgive me? Know what? I figured it out. So ignore this. =D )

For the next two hours, I pondered that question. But found no answer. Percy was in recovery; they wouldn't let us see him until they were sure he was stable. So, after two hours of waiting after he got out of surgery, the doctors finally let me see my son.

Annabeth's P.O.V.
I jumped up and ran to Percy's room. I was finally allowed to see him! I heard Poseidon's thundering footsteps not that far behind me. Then, we were there.

I hesitated outside the door. I was scared to see Percy in that hospital bed, hear the heart monitor beeping, scared to see all those tubes hooked up to his arms, to see him laying still in that bed, hooked up to all those machines. But I pushed my fears aside, Percy needed me. I threw open the door and dashed into the room.

The sight that greeted me was even worse that what I had imagined. "Percy," I choked and sprinted to his side, beginning to sob again. His usually tan skin was as white as his bed sheets, he lay still, the beeping of the heart monitor and the almost unnoticeable rise and fall of his chest the only signs he was alive. All his muscles seemed to have relaxed, for there was no tenseness about his form. He was hooked up to a respirator, it was helping him breath. His face was slack, there was no sign of life. It was terrifying. I clutched his limp, deathly pale hand tight in my own, never wanting to let go. I was silently willing him to wake up, to open his beautiful eyes and look at me, a smile playing on his lips. I wanted him to wake up and tell me "Hey wise girl. Why are you crying? I'm alright. Everything's fine. Besides," and he would smirk, "I can't stand to see you so sad. Go home, get some rest, I'll be out of here before you know it." I wanted so desperately for him to wake up, but he didn't.

I stayed by his bed and held his hand the rest of the day. When it was night time, I fell asleep in the chair next to his bed, still tightly clutching his hand. Poseidon stayed with Percy too.

The next morning, a doctor came in and pulled Poseidon to the side, saying something to him in a low voice, so I couldn't hear. Tears started to fall down his face, but he nodded his thanks to the doctor who then walked off.

"What was it?" I asked.

"Sally... Sally died." Was all he said, and that was all I needed to hear. We lapsed into a heavy silence, both consumed by our own thoughts. Until, that is, the TV in Percy's room pulled me away from them.

"Yesterday, there was a fatal car accident. A mother and son had been driving their little car, when out of nowhere, a black pickup truck roared around the corner and crushed their car, running into the passenger's side." I watched in horror as they showed footage from a traffic camera. 

There was Sally's car, her and Percy sitting in the front seats. Percy was talking and waving his hands around and Sally was laughing as she came up on the corner. Then, the black pickup came careening around the corner and rammed into Percy's door. The smaller car crumpled like aluminum foil and it flew through the air, rolling on it's side. It crashed into a nearby building, again Percy's side of the car took the brunt of the impact. The car made a hole in the side of the structure and bricks came pounding down on the car. Sally was awake in the front seat, blood coming from a gash in her forehead. But Percy was crushed. His door had caved in and trapped his legs and his arm.

Glass from the shattered windshield covered his hair, and there was blood everywhere. Running from his face, trickling down his arm, soaking his seat. Sally, staying sideways in her seat because of her seat-belt, reached over and tried to revive her son. She was shaking him harshly, yelling and screaming at him to wake up, to stay with her, shouting his name. Soon, the police arrived, but the truck was gone. Instead, they went immediately to work getting Sally out of the car. The pried opened her door and pulled her out, paramedics rushing over to take her to the the hospital, she was crying, the tears leaving streaks on her grime-covered cheeks. I could hear her yelling Percy's name. Saying, "Percy! Percy! My son! You have to help my son!" The paramedics carried her to an ambulance and loaded her on. Then the ambulance disappeared and drove off to the hospital.

They couldn't pull Percy out because of the door trapping his legs and right arm. They had to pull the car out of the hole and right it. Then, they had to cut through the door to open it and get him out. Once they had managed to cut through the car door, paramedics rushed over and gently pulled Percy out of the wreckage, placing him on a stretcher and running off. Then the TV switched back to a picture of the reporter, who continued speaking.

"Sally Jackson and her son, Perseus Jackson, were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to the hospital. Both had to undergo surgery, but it wasn't enough to save the late Mrs. Jackson. She was announced dead earlier this morning. Here with me now, was Mrs. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano. Here to say a few words." The lady passed the microphone to Gabe, and I filled with red hot anger.

"My wife shouldn't have died. My stepson shouldn't have been hurt. I will miss Sally and I will try to be there for Percy. But the boy did just lose his mother. They were so close. I'm not sure there is anything I can do." Gabe sighed in fake sadness, "Sally was a kind and very beautiful woman. She had her whole life ahead of her. She was still so young and perfect. Percy has been through enough trauma without this and losing his mother as well. I-" Gabe choked up, "I can't... I can't talk about this anymore." With that, he handed the reporter back her microphone and walked away.

"Poor man." She said, "He's lost, and been through much with his family and now it's falling apart." She shook her head. She obviously didn't know that Sally only stayed with him because she was too afraid of him to go to the police. Apparently, she didn't know that Gabe beat Percy until he was black and blue and covered in blood. Sometimes, Gabe used a belt, either end he used both, other times with his hands, punching him and kicking him, and sometimes, he would throw things at Percy, like glass bottles that broke when the hit him or knives that carved deep into his skin and muscle. "Percy Jackson is now recovering slowly in the hospital, he has not yet woken up and is still in an extremely fragile state." The reporter continued to ramble on, but I stopped listening, sucked into memories of what Gabe had done to Percy.

We were twelve, just after Percy's first year at camp, it was the middle of winter, but I didn't care, it was sunny and warm at camp. Everything was fine. Until Percy came staggering into camp with a knife stuck in his arm. I yelled for Chiron and ran to the top of the hill to meet Percy there. His eyes were filled with fear and pain. I grabbed his shoulders and steered him toward the Big House, where Chiron was emerging from the door, stooping so he could fit through the door in full centaur form. When he saw me supporting Percy and staggering over, he ran towards us. Once he got to us, he scooped Percy up and ran back with him back to the Big House. Running after him, I yelled at some Apollo campers to come with me. They followed without question. Arriving at the Big House, I asked the Apollo campers to wait and rushed inside.

"Chiron!" I called.

"Here, Annabeth! Could you go get some Apollo campers?" He called back.

"Already did!" I yelled and motioned for the Apollo kids to come in. Following Chiron's voice, I ran through the house to the rec-room, to see Percy sprawled out on the ping-pong table, unconscious.

"No... Gotta go back... Mom... Gabe... Stop... No... Stop... Please... Ohhh..." Percy mumbled an groaned. I held his hand. Chiron called over the Apollo campers to help. One of them rushed over, Will Solace I think, and took a look at Percy. Other campers ran to go get nectar and ambrosia. Will took a tight grip on the knife, and yanked it out of Percy's arm, who gave a small yelp of pain, even in his sleep he tried to not let anyone see his pain. I felt my heart squeeze. Oh, Percy... I thought sadly.

Once the knife was out, we all stared at it in shock. It was a regular knife, from someone's kitchen, the kind you use to cut an apple.

"He wasn't attacked by a monster" Will asked, incredulous, shaking his head.

"But if he wasn't, then who did this?" Asked another Apollo camper.

"I don't know... But we can ask him when he wakes up." Someone else said.

"What was he muttering about?  Who's Gabe? Why's he gotta go back? Go back where?" They have so many questions... I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my own worry. A half hour later, Percy woke up and yelled.

"Percy!" I cried, "What's wrong?!" But his eyes were wild, darting all over the place, he was shaking uncontrollably.

"My mom! Gabe's gonna hurt her! I have to get back! I don't wanna go back, he'll hurt me again... But my mom needs me!" Percy jumped up and ran out of the Big House. I was too shocked and confused to do anything for a minute, but then I jumped up and ran after him.

He hadn't gotten very far, but I decided to follow, not intervening unless necessary. He was running all the way back to New York, I realized.We ran for hours, finally, Percy called Blackjack and he jumped on, soaring into the sky. I whistled for my own horse, knowing at least one of Blackjack's friends would be nearby. Porkpie came and gave me a ride, keeping close enough that we could see them, but far enough away that we would not be noticed, unless Porkpie was sending thoughts to Percy. But Percy never looked back.

When we finally arrived in NYC, Percy landed Blackjack in the middle of  Central Park and made a mad dash in the direction of his family's apartment. I ran after him, putting on my invisibility cap so I could follow at a closer distance and not lose him in the crowds of people. When we got to his apartment building, Percy dashed inside and up the stairs to his family's apartment. I was right behind him. He burst in the door and started yelling.

"Gabe! Gabe, I'm home! I didn't go to the police! I just had to get out for a while! Please don't hurt my mom!" His voice was filled with fear; I didn't understand what was going on. I followed Percy into the kitchen and whirled when I heard a voice behind us.

"Punk, just where did you run off too?" Gabe Ugliano tightened his grip on Sally's arm and she winced slightly, pulling at his hand, trying to get away. Gabe had glass beer bottles in his other hand and he set them on the counter as he walked in.

"Gabe! I-I didn't go to the po-police! I swear! I-I just had to get out! I-I'm sorry! Please don't hurt my mom! Please let her go!" Percy said, stammering, his eyes flickering to his mother's.

"I'll let her go, boy. But I'm not letting you get out of here without a punishment." Gabe let go of Sally's arm and grabbed the glass bottles off the counter again.

Gabe! No! Please! Stop!" Sally hung on to his arm and tugged at it, trying to get him to stop. I stared in horror as Gabe drew back his arm and threw the bottle at Percy, who threw his arms up to protect his face. "Please! Stop! Gabe!" Sally continued to yell at him, but he didn't stop, he kept throwing bottles at Percy, and each time they shattered and big slivers of glass would embed themselves in Percy's arms, torso, and one even sliced into his cheek.

I couldn't do anything, I was frozen in shock and horror. So this was why Percy had scars when he came to camp. We all thought that he had fought monsters before. But it was because he had an abusive step-dad. "Gabe! No!" Sally shouted again and began pulling at him with renewed earnest. What was Gabe going to do to Percy now? He had run out of beer bottles. I looked over at Percy, he had sunk to the floor and huddled there, cowering and shaking.

"Get off me, bitch!" Gabe said, and he threw Sally into the wall behind him, where she sank to the floor, dazed. Then Gabe advanced on Percy, pulling his leg back. I stared in fear as Gabe stared to kick him, again and again. I was still frozen, held in place by horror, until Gabe delivered a rather sharp kick to Percy's arm and I heard something crack. Percy whimpered like a lost puppy and I unfroze.

I have to help! I have to get him out of here! I thought. But first, I have to get Sally out! So I turned from Gabe and ran over to Sally. "Sally, sh it's me, Annabeth, I'm under my invisibility cap, hold on, I'm going to get you out of here." I whispered, placing my hand on her shoulder. Helping her to her feet, we snuck out of the kitchen and ran down the hall, down the stairs, and out of the building.

Once outside, I pulled off my invisibility cap and looked at her. "Sally, go to Central Park and call Porkpie, he'll take you to camp. Do you feel safe riding a pegasus?"

"Annabeth, What about Percy? And I'm mortal, I can't get into your camp." She said.

"I'm going to go back in there and get Percy out. And you can if I allow it. Sally Jackson, I, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, allow you to enter Camp Half-Blood. There, that should do it. Tell Porkpie that I sent you and to take you straight to camp. Go!" I told her, and Sally ran off toward Central Park. I turned around, throwing my cap back on, and dashed back to Percy's apartment.

I snuck in through the door and ran to the kitchen, but froze in the doorway, stifling a gasp. Gabe had pulled off his belt and was hitting Percy with the buckle end between kicks. Percy was bloody and it looked like one of his arms had been broken earlier. Gabe pulled back his foot and struck out hard at Percy's knees. I heard a crack and Percy let out a yelp of pain, his leg going limp. Gabe repeated the motion for the other leg, then, once they were both broken and useless, Gabe kicked them out of his way and started to kick Percy's abdomen, hard. I thought I heard ribs crack. When Percy yelled, loud and clear and full of pain, I unfroze.

I ran in behind Gabe, pulling off my invisibility cap so Percy could see me, and I smacked the hilt of my dagger into the back of Gabe's head. He crumpled to the floor with a groan. I left him there, instead dashing over to Percy's side, scooping his head into my lap. "Percy," I said quietly, "Percy, it's okay. I'm here, it's Annabeth. I got your mom out. She's on her way to camp. Come on, I'm going to get you there too. Can you stand?" Wait. That was a stupid question. Gabe broke both his legs... I berated myself. Percy moaned and opened his eyes.

"Annabeth..." He muttered my name weakly, trying to sit up. Then his eyes rolled up in his head and he slumped against me, out cold. There was no way I could carry him out of here, and I wasn't going to leave him here. So I looked around the kitchen. His sink was right under a window; the sun was shining through it. I gently laid Percy down on the floor and rushed over to the sink, turning on the water. A rainbow appeared. I fished a drachma out of my jeans and tossed it into the rainbow, sending a silent prayer to Iris, goddess of the rainbow.

"Please, show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood." Chiron appeared in the mist and I called his name. "Chiron!"

He turned, startled, "Annabeth! Where are you? Sally Jackson just got here, and would you please explain what is going on? She's crying and can't tell us anything."

I sighed in relief. She had gotten there safely and was in camp. "There's no time right now. I need a ride back to camp right now, and medics," I glanced behind me worriedly at Gabe, "I don't know how long he'll stay down and I need to get Percy out of here, he's hurt."

"I'll be right there; I'll be able to get there fastest." He paused, about to swipe through the message as I turned back to Percy. "Where are you?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm in New York, Percy's apartment." I said. Chiron nodded and swiped through the message. I turned off the water and knelt next to Percy. A few minutes later, Chiron appeared through the font door.

"Annabeth!" He called, "Where are you?"

"Here! In the kitchen! Hurry!" I called back. Chiron cantered into the kitchen, glancing around.

"Anna-" Then he was me kneeling on the floor, cradling Percy in my lap. "Oh..."

He didn't hesitate, he just scooped Percy into his arms and threw me onto his back. He stepped right over Gabe and ran out the door, going really fast. Before I knew it, we were back at camp. I didn't even ask how he could do that, I was too worried about the son of Poseidon in his arms.

"Will Solace!" Chiron yelled for the son of Apollo. Will came running.

"Yes, Chiron?"

"Take Percy to the infirmary and do what you can." Handing Percy to the medic, Chiron continued on to the Big House and ducked inside. He slung me off his back and carried me into the rec-room, were Sally sat at the ping-pong table with Selena Beauregard. Selena was comforting her as she cried. "Sally, Annabeth is back with your son. Percy is in the infirmary where the Apollo kids can take care of him and make him better." Sally looked up and jumped to her feet.

"Percy! Is he alright? Can I see him? What happened?" She rushed over and looked between me and the old centaur.

"He's going to be fine. You can see him soon, but you'll have to wait. You would only get in the way right now. As to what happened," He looked at me, "You'll have to ask Annabeth." Sally looked at me, tears still sliding down her face. I took a deep breath and explained what I had seen and done after she ran off. Halfway through, she burst into fresh sobs. When I was done, Chiron asked me to tell him what happened after Percy woke up. So I did. Once I had told the whole story, Chiron's face was thoughtful and worried.

He thought for a minute, then turned to Sally. "So Gabe is abusive, and you can't do anything about it, and to try to protect Percy you send him to boarding schools to keep him out of the house and away from Gabe." Sally nodded through her tears. Then her face filled with terror.

"You can't tell anyone! You can't!" She gripped his arms tightly, pleading with him.

"Why not? Tell the police, and Gabe goes to jail, and you and Percy will be safe." Chiron asked, confused.

"Once, when he was ten, Percy ran and told the police. Gabe covered everything up and he was proven innocent and when the investigation was over with, Gabe was furious. He turned on Percy and he... He nearly killed him." Sally's eyes were wide and fearful, begging Chiron not to do anything. "You can't tell anyone! Please!" Chiron nodded solemnly.

"No wonder Percy never explained those scars he had and why he always shrank back from physical contact It also explains why Clarisse scared him so much that first day. She must have said something that reminded him of Gabe." I said, putting it all together in my head. "Of course we won't tell anyone if you don't feel safe with it. But anything you need, just ask, okay? If you ever just need out of the house and need somewhere to stay for a while, you'll always be welcome here."

"Oh, Annabeth! How can I ever thank you?" Sally cried and threw her arms around me, enveloping me in a gentle, warm, comforting hug. Oh, gods, I thought, Percy has this all the time! I was a bit jealous. Then I remembered the abusive step-dad.

Sally pulled back and smiled at me. "Thank you, Annabeth. I'm glad that Percy has you. he needs a friend to help him through it.'' I smiled back at her.

"Percy is an amazing young boy who has so much potential, he's lucky to have a mom who cares about him as much as you do. Even with what he's been through with Gabe, he still has such a huge heart." We sat together and told stories about Percy as we waited for it to be okay to see him...

"Annabeth! Annabeth!" I blinked and returned to the present. Poseidon was shaking me. "Annabeth, are you alright? I've been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes!"

"Sorry, Lord Poseidon." I said quietly, glancing at Percy laying so still in the bed next to me.

"It's quite alright, Annabeth. No need to call me 'Lord' though."

"Sorry..." I mumbled again.

"No need to apologize, Annabeth. I just wanted to know what you wanted for lunch?" He asked, looking at me worriedly.

"I'm not hungry right now."

"You need to eat something! You haven't eaten anything since, what, lunch yesterday? You didn't eat breakfast this morning or dinner last night. What would you like? I could give you a small bit of ambrosia or some nectar." He pulled a bag of the godly food out of his pocket. My head shot up and I stared at the bag in his hand.

"You have ambrosia and nectar?!" I practically yelled, angry.

"Yeah..." He said, confused.

"Why didn't you give Percy any?!" Poseidon stared at me, then looked back and forth between my angry face and his son's sill, pale one.

He hung his head. "I-I'm afraid that with his condition being so fragile, I'm worried that it wouldn't do anything or, because he's so weak, he wouldn't be able to take it and he would burn up." Poseidon whispered, staring at Percy's white, blank face. I mentally smacked myself on the forehead. Come on, Annabeth! Why didn't you think of that too? You're a daughter of Athena for crying out loud! I shook my head and sighed.

"You're right. It wouldn't be safe to risk it." I gazed at all the machines and tubes that Percy was hooked up to; the heart rate monitor, the respirator, and the bag of blood I had donated this morning. Poseidon would have to give some too, except he didn't have blood, he had ichor. But Percy some of that too. So he was going to have to give a little bit later today. Using the Mist to make it look like regular blood.

Just then, my thoughts were interrupted by a high pitch beeping. I looked at the heart rate monitor, the line had gone flat. Percy had flat-lined. "No!" I screamed. Poseidon dragged me out of the room as doctors ran in to try to save him. "No!' I screamed and sobbed as the doctors prepared the defibrillators. "No! Seaweed Brain, you can't leave me! No!" Sobbing, I sank to my knees and prayed to all the gods that he would live. Cursing the Fates for doing this to him, for doing this to me. "You can't die, Seaweed Brain! You can't die, I need you! Percy!"

Without my Seaweed Brain, I'm lost.

A/N Wow! 4,957 words! My gods that's a lot! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and will keep reading! It will probably be a few days before the next one comes out, so please be patient if you do decide to continue on! =)

Yours in demigodishness and all that,
Annabeth_Jackson_12 <3