The door to the big house slammed open, revealing a pajama clad Piper McLean. Hearing the sound of the door opening, Chiron looked up from his desk and stared at the Daughter of Athena with wide eyes. "Did you find anything?" Piper slowly nodded, her eyes never leaving his. "Alright, go get Annabeth and I'll call a meeting."

Again, Piper only nodded and took off on a sprint towards the Poseidon Cabin. She breathed heavily and slowly and carefully opened the door, peering inside the cabin wearily. The inside of the cabin was pitch black except for the far corner of the room where a small night light, shaped like a wave, was plugged into the wall. Piper stepped inside and looked around for the heartbroken Daughter of Athena.

Her kaleidoscope eyes froze on a bed that was pushed up against the wall near the front right corner. Piper noticed that in the bed, laying on top of the covers, was Annabeth. Piper walked closer and noticed that Annabeth was wearing a pair of Percy's green plaid pajamas. The Daughter of Aphrodite smiled sadly when she noticed tear stains glistening on Annabeth's cheeks in the moonlight, almost like she was crying in her sleep.

"Annabeth," Piper whispered, reaching her hand down to shake her arm but stopped when she felt something hard against her skin, Looking down, she saw Annabeth hugging a picture frame close to her chest, hugging it tightly. Piper gently tugged the frame out of Annabeth's arms and her eyes traced over the photo.

The photo inside the frame was a picture of both Percy and Annabeth. They smiled at the camera brightly and Annabeth seemed to be laughing at something the person taking the picture said. The setting of the photo was at the beach at Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth was on Percy's back, hugging him around the neck while he held her up by holding on to her knees.

Piper's eyes stayed focused on Annabeth's face. The way her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. How she actually smiled with her teeth and not just with her mouth closed and teary eyes. Piper was amazed at how happy Annabeth looked with her boyfriend, Percy. Since Percy's been missing, Piper has never seen Annabeth smile like that.

Setting the picture down, Piper snapped out of her daze and got back to the task at hand. Wake Annabeth up. Piper reached her hand out again and shook Annabeth's arm, the plaid fabric soft on Piper's hands. "Annabeth," Piper whispered. "Wake up."

Piper stepped back as Annabeth's grey eyes shot open. She sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes frantically looking around for something as her chest heaved in deep heavy breaths. "N-no," She mumbled, patting the bed space next to her, like someone was supposed to be sleeping beside her. "No- what- Percy." Her eyes squeezed shut and she pulled her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth as fresh tears raced down her face.

"Annabeth?" Piper asked quietly, setting a hand on her shoulder.

"What?" Annabeth whispered, turning her head so her bloodshot grey eyes met Piper's. "What are you doing in here Piper?" She turned her body so her legs dangled off the bed and she faced Piper.

Piper took a deep breath and while looking straight into Annabeth's eyes said, "We know where Percy is," She informed. "There's a meeting at the Big House." Piper watched Annabeth's eyes widen and then she witnessed a human being thrown her hair up into a messy bun and dart out the door in not even a sentence. "Wow." She turned around and ran after a sprinting Annabeth to the big house.

------

All Annabeth heard was, "We know where Percy is." Her grey orbs widened and she threw her golden curls into a messy bun and didn't even think about putting shoes on. In a flash, she was sprinting full speed towards the Big House, desperate to find out where her boyfriend disappeared to.

She practically jumped up the steps and slammed the door open, breathing hard from running so fast and so far. Once the door opened, everyone fell silent. The cheering stopped. The arguing vanished. The laughing quieted down. All eyes were now on Annabeth as she walked into the Big House in her boyfriends pajamas, probably looking like a trainwreck. "W-where is he?" Her voice broke at the end.

"The Roman Camp," Jason informed Annabeth as she sat down on an empty chair. "Camp Jupiter is what it's called and Percy is there right now."

"Roman?" Annabeth asked, her voice small. "He's at a Roman camp?"

"Yes." Piper nodded, reaching over to hold Annabeth's hand and squeeze it comfortingly.

Annabeth looked around at all the campers that sat around the old ping-pong table and took a deep breath. "Is he okay?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw Jason look away nervously and her eyes filled with tears as people coughed awkwardly or looked away. "What? What's wrong?"

Jason cleared his throat, not meeting her eyes. "Well, as you know, Greeks and Romans have not been on the best terms in a long time." He finally looked over at Annabeth and tried to give her a small smile. "There's no saying what they'll do to him once they find out he's Greek. They could let him live or..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

Annabeth stood up, pushing her chair back as she stood. "What?! Tell me!"

"Or..they could kill him," Jason said, his electrocuting blue eyes not meeting her stormy grey ones because he didn't want to see the look on her face.

"So, you're saying he could be..d-dead?" Annabeth whispered, a frown replacing the hopeless look on her face as Jason nodded. "But, no, he can't be. They wouldn't do that to him. They can't." She fell back into her chair and buried her face into her hands.

Chrion took the silent moment to speak up. "Annabeth, there's no sign that he is dead." He placed a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "It's just a possibility."

"How do we get there?" Annabeth's head lifted out of her hands and a look of determination spread across her features.

Leo cleared her throat. "Well-"

He was interrupted by an attempted Iris Message.

Annabeth turned around in her seat as she heard Iris speaking behind her. "Incoming Iris Message to Annabeth Chase, New York from Percy Jackson, California. Do you accept?"

"Yes!" Annabeth screamed, shooting up from her chair.

The Iris Message shimmered and Annabeth only got a glimpse of black hair and sea green eyes before it disappeared. "Connection failed."

Annabeth stood there, eyes brimming with tears, and her mouth halfway open. Her hands clenched and unclenched as she stared at the spot where the Iris Message used to be. She cleared her throat, nodding. "I-um- I need a minute." She turned and walked out the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

"I should go," Piper said as she stood up, following Annabeth out of the Big House. She searched around camp until she spotted her sitting on the docs. "Hey."

"Hi," Annabeth whispered, leaning her head on Piper's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry, Annabeth," Piper apologized, wrapping her arms around her.

Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, a single tear running down her cheek. "I was so close to talking to him." She sniffed, opening her eyes to stare off into the night sky. "So close."

"Hey." Piper started with a small smile. "At least we know he's alive."

"I guess." Annabeth shrugged. "I just wanted to hear his voice."

Piper turned her body so she could embrace the hurting demigod tighter. "I know. You'll see him soon enough. Leo is working on the ship already and he should have it done in a couple of months." She rubbed Annabeth's back soothingly.

"A couple months?" Annabeth whimpered, burying her face into Piper's shoulder. "I really miss him. More than I ever thought I would." She lifted a hand to wipe a tear away as her eyes got a faraway look in them as if she were reliving memories.

"How'd you guys become official?" Piper asked.

Annabeth smiled and looked out wistfully into the horizon where the moon was reflecting onto the lake. "This is where he kissed me and asked me to be his girlfriend." She dipped her bare foot down into the cool water.

"When?" Piper asked in a soft whisper.

"August 18th. His sixteenth birthday," She told him in an almost inaudible whisper.  "We has just won the war when I brought him a blue cupcake. We talked for a while then we kissed."

"Tell me about him," Piper suggested. "It might help with the pain."

Annabeth pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly. "We met when we were twelve. He had just fought the Minotaur and lost his mom. He passed out right in front of me and I nursed him back to health. After that, we've been going on quests together ever since." She smiled, a real genuine one since the disappearance. "We didn't like each other at first because of our parents rivalry but over the years we grew closer and became best friends."

"Yeah?" Piper led on. "What else?"

"I developed a small liking towards him that grew so strong that it scared me. After the Titan War we started dating." Annabeth got this faraway look in her eyes like she was reliving the memories.

Piper looked away from the water to glance over at Annabeth. "What'd he look like?"

Annabeth smiled. "He had- no, he has black hair that's always disheveled no matter how many times he brushes it. His eyes are green but not completely. They have this tint of blue to them, like the ocean. He's now a whole head taller than me and he always smells like the ocean." She looked back down at the water and bit her lip. "His hoodies always smelled like him and I'd steal them until he asked for them back or lost his scent."

"That's cute," Piper laughed, happy to see her friend smiling. "Tell me more."

"He always knew how to cheer me up and he's got the worst jokes ever." She sighed longingly. "I'd give anything to hear one."

"They made you laugh though." Piper pointed out.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah." She sighed dreamily. "Then there's his smile. He's got so many. There's the one he gives friends then the one he gives his mom. But there's this one smile that is only directed towards me."

Piper pushed. "What's the smile like?"

"His eyes always light up like he's seeing the most amazing thing in the world." She laughed softly. "Then his smiles lopsided and goofy and I used to hate it but not I love it."

Thinking that Annabeth was cheered up, Piper glanced over at her only to notice the tears racing down her face. "Hey, I didn't want to see anymore tears."

Annabeth smiled, wiping at her eyes. "I just- do you know what he said to me the night before he went missing?"

"What?" Piper asked, genuinely curious.

"He said- he said." Annabeth paused but continued a few seconds later. "He told me he loved me."

"Really?" Pipers eyes widened.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah. Then he kissed me and told me he'd see me tomorrow but..."

"You guys didn't see each other..."

"No," She said miserably.

Piper thought for a minute before breaking the silence, "What do you miss about him?"

"Um, everything?" Annabeth laughed quietly. "Well, I miss the feeling of his hand in mine or the feeling I get when we kiss. I miss the protected feeling I have when he wraps his arms around me..."

"Anything else?" Piper rubbed her back soothingly.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I guess his laugh and obviously his smile. I miss the way he made me laugh." She looked over at Piper with wide eyes. "He could just look at me and feel so happy. I would just laugh. No one can do that except him, Piper."

"He seems like a great guy." Piper smiled.

"Oh, he is." Annabeth nodded, picking up a stone off the doc and throwing it into the water. "He's just look at me and it amazed me how he was mine. I'm so lucky."

"Yeah, you are," Piper said. "Why's he such a good guy?"

"He treats me so good." She sighed happily. "He never would think about hurting me or forcing me to do anything I didn't want to. When I felt insecure about myself he gave me a whole pep talk about how I'm beautiful and smart and so much more. If I had a nightmare he'd hug me and tell me everything was going to be okay."

"That's a good boyfriend right there." Piper noted, trying to picture Percy Jackson in her mind.

"Yeah, the best." Annabeth nodded in agreement. "And he's so loyal. I never have to worry about him cheating on me or doing something behind my back. He tells me everything."

"Personal loyalty," Piper recalled his fatal flaw.

"Yeah." Annabeth looked over at Piper. "I miss him."

She wrapped an arm around her hurting friend. "I know you do but just think about it, you'll be back in Percy's arms in no time."

"And he remembers me," Annabeth said, remembering that the IM was directed towards her from Percy.

"Yeah." Piper removed her arm. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Annabeth stared straight out into the horizon, watching the water ripple. "I love him."

"Did you tell him that?" Piper asked.

She shrugged. "Well, I hesitated and then I said it. He looked kind of crestfallen but then said I don't have to say anything if I wasn't comfortable or ready."

"Awe," Piper cooed.

"I- I have just been let down by people who have said those three words to me but I just know Percy's not like that," Annabeth said. "I know he'll never abandon me or make me feel like I need to run away to be loved."

"Again with the thing of him treating you good," She mentioned.

"Yeah. He also loves me for me. I don't have to be like some girls in relationships when they have to act like someone they're not. I can't just be me.

"That's so cute." Piper gave her best friend a knowing look. "Tell you what, we ditch the rest of the meeting and have a sleepover in Percy's cabin. You can tell me more about him and you can show me pictures."

Annabeth's cheeks colored but she nodded in response. "Okay."

Piper grabbed Annabeth's hand and pulled her towards the Poseidon Cabin, hoping Poseidon won't blast her for being in his cabin. She wasn't too worried because if Annabeth, a Daughter of Athena was allowed in there than she probably was too.

The rest of the night was filled with stories of Percy and many, many laughs.