A/N

So this is an one shot about Percy and Sally so there isn't that much Percabeth. Just a disclaimer. 

Never Gonna Give You Up

"You should just take an abortion." Said Poseidon to Sally as she clutched her stomach. She had just found out that she was pregnant after a summer fling with Poseidon.

That was what she thought about when the nurse told her to push. It was nine months later and of course she hadn't done it. Especially after what he had told her.

"There is this prophecy about a child of the big three. About him. He's prophesied to die when he turns 16."

"He?" Sally asked, tears welling up in her eyes, a slight smile on her face and mouth open a bit. "I'm having a boy?"

"Yes. But that doesn't matter. It's torture to love someone, knowing the exact date that he's going to die. Just spare yourself the pain." Poseidon tried to convince her, grabbing her hands. "The best you can do for that boy is to end it."

But she pulled away, one hand on her stomach and one still holding Poseidon's. "And save you a lot of trouble on Olympus? Sorry, Poseidon, but I'm having this baby. I'm not going to turn my back on him."

"Okay, at least let me take care of him. I can raise him safely from the monsters and my brothers. You can visit him as much as you want. Come on, you're only nineteen."

But Sally shook her head determined, "I'm doing this my way. Not yours. Mine."

And she did it her way. She had to quit college and find a job to start working, but it was all worth it.

And yes, she was alone. But she had always been alone and she could do this. Well, that was what she told herself as she pushed one last time and the sharp cries filled her ears. She fell back on the bed, tears flooding her eyes as her baby boy was placed in her arms.

He was so small.

So amazing. She thought that she knew what love was until now. But this was love. She was going to love this little boy to death. She was actually scared of how in love she was with him and he wasn't even here for five minutes.

Yet her love only grew more intensely as he wrapped her little fingers around her finger. She let out a big sob, this was too overwhelming.

"Hey, Percy. Hey." She spoke softly, he stopped crying and looked up at her. He had beautiful sea green eyes. He looked a lot like Poseidon actually. But she didn't care. She had settled on the name Perseus a long time ago. She has always been really into Greek myths. And directly after deciding Perseus she came with the nickname Percy.

He immediately seemed to know that it was his name as he turned his full attention towards her, big sea green eyes focused on her soley and his little hand gripping her finger.

"Hi. I'm your mommy. And I- I love you so much, Percy. I'm never going to give you up. Don't forget that, okay?" She kissed his forehead and held him close to her, not wanting to ever let him go.

--------------------------

Years flew by since then and Sally had fallen into some sort of routine.

Wake up with Percy, bring him to school, work, pick Percy up and go to the park with him or something, eat dinner, tell him a story and go to sleep. But before she fell asleep her mind was clouded with worry about Percy. And what Poseidon had told her.

He was expected to go to Camp Halfblood, and according to Poseidon as soon as possible. He needed to go on dangerous quests and get training, monsters were out there that wanted to kill him so desperately. His everyday growing smell attracts monsters. And the clock that she could feel ticking above Percy's head, ending when he turned sixteen. even though he was only six.

Sometimes she could see monsters around them, looking at them. At him.

He didn't see them. He was too oblivious to them, too trusting of the world.

And she loved that about him, of course. She loved everything about him. But that didn't take the fear away that hunted her.

--------------------------

"Your son has ADHD and Dyslexia." Said the doctor. Percy had trouble focusing and she had taken him to the doctor.

"Okay, what exactly is that?" She asked, trying to wrap her mind around this.

"He's impulsive and has trouble with focusing and reading. He can't do anything about it, but it makes it harder for him to focus on school and life in general."

She nodded slowly, understanding it. She thanked the doctor and walked out of the office, on her way to pick Percy up.

She smiled widely as he came running on the playground. A grin spread on his face as he spotted her and ran into her arms, hugging her.

As they began walking she told him, explaining what the doctor had told her.

"But that doesn't change anything, sweetie. You're still the same. You are still Percy that you were yesterday. We just now know why you have trouble with focusing and reading." She reassured him, squeezing his little hand lightly.

"I'm sorry, mommy."

"What, why?"

"Because I'm causing you trouble." He muttered, quietly.

"Hey!" Sally exclaimed, kneeling to look him straight in the eyes, "You are never, ever causing me trouble. Okay? Don't ever forget that. You can never do anything that disappoints me. And I'm never going to give you up. And I love you."

He stared at her with those big eyes and hugged her. "I love you too."

She tickled his belly softly, making him laugh with delight. "Now come on, mommy needs to go to work."

--------------------------

She was being selfish.

She was trying to keep him with her. She had even married this super gross guy to hide his smile. He wasn't good for her, or Percy, but it was enough for her. Percy was still with her and that was what mattered, right?

He was eight now. It was his 8th birthday. She had gone all out; they had gone to Montauk and celebrated with cookies and pizza.

She had been fine all day, over the moon actually. It had been a great day until she realised one thing; he was halfway down. He was 8 now and that meant that this had been the first half of his life.

It was cruel.

"Mommy?" Percy stood in the doorway, his stuffed turtle tucked under his arm. "What's wrong, why are you crying?"

She wiped the tears away and motioned for him to come to her. She pulled him in her arms and lay down on the bed, her eyes focused on the wall.

"I'm just sad that your birthday is over. And that you're so old."

"You shouldn't be sad about that." He mumbled, falling asleep. "My teacher said that we all are going to get really old nowadays."

"You're right." She muttered, stroking his hair as he fell asleep, while she herself let some tears go. Trying to be strong for him.

And to be honest sometimes- very dark times - she wished that she would've taken Poseidon's advice. But then she looked down at her beautiful son and wouldn't have wished it otherwise.

--------------------------

The years sped by from them on. In some lightning mode or something, because it all went too fast for her. Suddenly he was 12 and fighting the Minotaur and came to save her.

When that summer ended and he actually came back home, against Poseidon's predictions who had told her that he would probably stay at Camp Halfblood from then on, she hugged him so tightly that he couldn't breathe.

"I'll always come back, mom."

And he did. Every year he came back and every year he had a new story to tell her. Most included very vivid details of a certain blonde. Which she loved to tease him about.

But the best news she had ever heard was when he had just turned 14 and told her about the daughter of Zeus that they had found at Camp. That meant that he wasn't the oldest and that he was going to survive.

And of course she felt bad. The moment she thought it she cursed herself for thinking like that. This only meant that another child needed to die. Especially when she met the daughter of Zeus, Thalia, she didn't deserve to die. But still these few months that she had thought that Percy wasn't the one from the prophecy were the calmest she had had in years.

And maybe it were the Fates, but she almost felt like she could die right there and then when she found out that Thalia became a huntress of Artemis and didn't age from then. So that Percy was the one of the prophecy once again.

But apart from that her life had been going the right way, she had met this amazing guy Paul. An English teacher who was the sweetest and actually didn't care about her having a 14 year old son. And Percy was fine with it. Actually happy for her.

Though she was very nervous about telling Paul why Percy was gone every summer and looked nervous every time they were out and kept fiddling with his pen.

But when they were dating for 5 months she finally told him.

"Paul, can you sit down please?"

"Of course what's up?" He sat down at the kitchen table, across from her and Percy, who was eating a cookie.

"We need to tell you something. It's about Percy." Percy grew a bit red and gave him an awkward wave with pursed lips.

"Yeah, about my dad. And why I sometimes come home with wounds and mom gives me something to eat and drink and I'm fine later. Well that is because- Gods how can I say this? Mom?" He looked at her desperately and she laughed softly, picking up where he left off.

"Well that's because Percy's father didn't die at sea, but is a Greek god. And that means that the gods are real and same with the monsters and demigods."

"Hi again." Percy chirped in, earning a glare from her.

"Uh, what?"

"Yeah and there is this summer camp for demigods. That's where I go during the summer. To train and stuff." He got Riptide out of his pocket and looked at her for a second. "Can I show you Riptide?" She nodded. "Cool."

He uncapped the pen and the long sword sprang out. She still wasn't used to it, to see him with that sword and looking so natural with it.

"He's going to grow up as a killer. A son of the big three's fate." Poseidon's words rang in her head, but she shook them off.

Percy told Paul the whole story from then on, sometimes she fell in, but it was mostly him. And she was so proud of Percy for that.

--------------------------

"Mom?" Percy leaned against the counter. "What's wrong? Are you crying? Why are you crying?" He put some dirty dishes on the sink and walked over to her.

"Come on, mom. It's my birthday."

"You're just so old now. You've really grown up. 15 years okay you were just so small. And now you're taller than I am."

"That's not my fault." He answered sarcastically, but with a big smile on his face.

She rolled his eyes and pulled him into a hug.

Only one year left. One year left with him.

"Percy, can you do something for me?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Tell your feelings to Annabeth. Life is short and you should make the most of it."

"Mom." He groaned with irritation and embarrassment.

"Just think about it okay?" She tried to convince him and pulled away from the hug.

He nodded slightly, "Okay. I will."

--------------------------

In Sally Jackson's whole life she had never ever regretted not taking that abortion over 16 years ago, but on August 18th, the day Percy turned 16 she couldn't help but think it.

And she felt terrible for it.

She couldn't sleep that night or the whole day and she later heard from Paul that she had been a wreck. The whole day she was awaiting the inevitable news.

The news that her son had died. And even though there was a chance that he was alive she saw his whole life flashing before her;

Holding him in her arms as he was just born. The first time she brought him to the ocean. She still knew the fear she had felt when she placed him into the water, afraid that he would take Percy with him. Picking him up from school, times that he had this sheepish look when he got kicked out of school again and long nights at Montauk sitting together at the fire. How he showed her his sword proudly and how she banned it from being used into the house after a few vases didn't make it. How he got more and more scars and she was too afraid to ask about it. How he stopped telling her less about the details of the quest and more about Annabeth and other things. But mostly Annabeth.

But most of all how sweet and loyal he was. That was how she was going to remember him, if he didn't come back.

Yeah they had had some great moments together. But it only made her more sad.

"Here, drink something." Paul said softly, handing her a blue Diet Coke.

"Thank you." She whispered, not being able to speak too much with the big lump in her throat.

"Don't worry about it honey. He'll be okay." Paul told her, rubbing her back softly.

She nodded, only staring at the window nervously.

And she kept staring. And staring. Until she felt numb. But she didn't go away or sit down. What if she missed it?

Then it came. Right from the Empire Statebuilding. Olympus. She sank through the ground breaking down in tears as she saw the blue light.

--------------------------

And things were good from then on, Percy had never been happier. Annabeth came over frequently and things were finally peaceful.

Everything seemed perfect, summer turned to fall and then winter, Christmas was around the corner when Percy went to camp for his winterbreak.

"Do you have all your stuff?" She asked concerned, looking at the single bag that he had brought with him.

"I'm fine, it's only winter break mom. It's not like I'm going away for a long time. And to be honest I'm only going to wear one shirt." He said the last part with a grin and she pushed him lightly.

They were silent for a minute before Percy spoke up, "Mom, I'm going now. Annabeth's waiting."

"Okay, go. Say hi to Annabeth and I love you."

"Will do and love you too mom."

She watched him step out of the car and didn't drive away until he was safely over the hill.

Had she known that the next time she would see him was 8 months later.

It was a long time later that she had dropped him off when she found a crying Annabeth Chase at her doorstep. She ushered her inside and gave her a warm cup of tea, sitting her down on the couch.

"Percy is gone." Was the only thing Annabeth said as she stared at nothing in particular with a dull voice. She looked absolutely terrible, her hair was a mess, her face was stained with tear tracks and she looked like she hadn't slept in days.

Sally felt like she was going to fall off the couch, "What do you mean that Percy is gone?"

"I- I tried to find him, but he was nowhere to be found." She still hadn't moved and was creeping Sally out. "The one day he walked me home to my cabin and the other day he didn't show up for breakfast and then he didn't show up for any lessons. Then he was gone, I searched everywhere. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away, but I hoped that it was a false alarm. And I knew that Percy didn't want you to know if it was a false alarm. Then these new guys showed up and we found something out," She hadn't interrupted Annabeth during this whole story, but now she broke out sobbing. "He's- he is at this Roman camp."

"I'm sorry but I don't know what this means?"

"Romans don't like Greeks. If they find out that he's Greek they will kill him."

"But if you know where he is, why can't you get him?" Her voice was full of panic.

"We can't. Because the stupid Gods." The sky rumbled and she rolled her eyes, "Talking about you Hera! It's all about this prophecy and plan of Hera about a new war. And Percy has no memory. She wiped it."

"What? No memory? War?"

"I'm sorry for dropping all this information on you." Annabeth said, her voice not more than a whisper, "I could have prevented this. If I-"

Sally was snapped out of her daze when she heard this and scooted closer to her wrapping the girl in a hug.

"Hey, it's not your fault. Nobody could have known that this was going to happen. And I'm sure that he is going to come back. If anybody can do it, it's Percy." She assured her.

They kept seeing each other after that. Sometimes Annabeth stayed in Percy's room. They talked and were a real support to each other. Especially when she heard the voice message he left. It was in the middle of the night and she only heard it in the morning, cursing at the thought that she could have spoken with him. But no, she was sleeping. Paul also looked crushed, he hadn't taken Percy's disappearance that well either.

But he had called home. Meaning that he remembered. He remembered. She called Annabeth right away who rushed over. She cried softly as she heard his voice, having the same reaction as she had had.

But then Annabeth left as well. She was going to him and she couldn't be happier for her. But she also felt more anxious than ever. They needed to fight in another war again.

--------------------------

It was two months later when the doorbell rang, she was working on her new book and grumpy at the interruption.

She opened the door expecting the mailman with that stupid book Paul ordered or the annoying neighbor from next door who moved in two months ago.

But it wasn't any of them. It was him. Percy.

"Hey, mom." He mumbled, wearing the infamous orange shirt and looking at his feet. He seemed taller, he seemed older.

Tears filled her eyes, "Don't 'hey mom' me come here, honey." She opened her arms and he walked straight into them, just as he used to do when he was little. She cried softly, stroking his hair as she always used to do, even though he was so much taller now.

"I'm sorry for going away mom- I" He began to mumble, but she shushed him. "I know honey it's okay. Annabeth told me. And you have nothing to be sorry about. You came back and that's all that matters." She whispered, crying softly. She hadn't noticed that until now they had sunken to the floor.

She only noticed that Percy was crying too.

"Annabeth told you?" He muttered, confused.

"She came over a lot, she was a real support. You can be really proud of her."

"Yeah, she's amazing." He smiled at the thought of her, "She didn't want to come along today."

"She's sweet." She commented, unwrapping herself and standing up. He stood up as well and she sat him down on the couch. She went to the kitchen to grab some cookies that she baked this morning.

He was looking around the apartment as she put the plate on the coffee table. "You have changed nothing about this place."

"Of course silly, it's not like you were gone for that long." Only 8 months. "Though I think that Annabeth stole a couple of shirts from you."

He laughed softly and took a bite from a cookie. That was when she saw it. Black ink on the skin of his forearm. "What happened?" She asked as she grabbed his arm, examining his arm closely.

"Sorry about the tattoo." He mumbled, looking down.

"I don't care honey. It's okay." She got tears in her eyes and let out a sob, though it was filled with laughter. She took his face in her hands, looking at his eyes. Normally so full of life and happiness and now so much duller. But she could still see Percy in it. "You're here. It's okay. You're home now."

They talked for hours, though Percy didn't go into details about the stuff that happened. She could only imagine what he had been through.

"Sally I'm home! Hey, what's going on?" A voice spoke behind them. They looked up and faced Paul, dead in his tracks. Percy stood up, fiddling with his hands nervously.

"Paul, I-" But he wasn't able to finish his sentence as Paul engulfed him in a hug. "I'm so glad that you're home," He was silent for a moment, choking back tears, "Son."

She heard Percy let out a huge sob and Sally couldn't help but to join their hug.

-----------------------—

Things returned to normal after that. Well kind of. Annabeth slept over a lot of the time, she went to the same school as Percy and though she originally had her own room that her father had rented for her at this foster care, she was over at their place all the time. She didn't mind that he and Annabeth slept together in the same room, if it helped against the nightmares she was okay with it. Plus they were teenagers, there was no stopping them.

But this night was one of those nights that Annabeth wasn't here. It was the middle of the night when she kept hearing footsteps in their apartment. This wasn't the first time, but all the other times that she had confronted him about it he just said that it was nothing and changed the subject.

Paul never woke up though, he was such a deep sleeper that even an earthquake wouldn't wake him up.

But this night she also heard restrained sobs. So she stood up finding Percy sitting on the couch, his hands buried in his hair.

"Annabeth's alive," He muttered in some kind of a mantra. "She's alive and I am, we're not there. It's okay. Do not call her, she's asleep."

He kept saying this until she sat down next to him whispering a hi to him, scaring him so much that Riptide was already in his hands.

"It's only me, Percy."

He wiped the tears away and spoke with a hoarse voice, "Hi mom, why are you here?"

"I live here." She said dryly and handed him a glass of water, "I heard you and thought you might want some company." She finished on a more serious note.

"Thanks. And you can go, I'm fine. I'm going to sleep in a moment."

Yeah sure. But she didn't say that. "Percy," She urged on. "You can talk to me, I'm your mother."

At that moment something seemed to click inside of him and he burst out crying. His shoulders shook heavily and his face was buried in his hands. She rubbed his back softly, hoping it was some comfort.

Eventually he spoke up, his voice cracking up, "I can't sleep mom. I- I keep getting nightmares and flashbacks. And I don't want to trouble Annabeth, she has a math test tomorrow." He spoke slowly, tears streaming down his face and hiccuping.

He fell in a hysterical crying fit again and her heart just broke at this. She hugged him closely and he curled up in her lap, just like he was four again.

"Hey, Percy. Hey." She spoke softly, he stopped crying and looked up at her. His sea green eyes full of tears and more broken than they used to be. I'm your mom, Percy. You can talk to me anytime you want. And I- I love you so much, Percy. I'm never going to give you up. Don't forget that, okay?"

"I don't deserve this." He muttered, sitting up. "I'm supposed to feel miserable. That's all I deserve."

"Hey, that's not true, if anybody does not deserve this it's you." She told him in a strict tone, hoping it would get in his mind.

"Mom, you don't know what I have done." He sobbed.

"And I don't care. You're always free to tell me, but it's also fine if you don't want to. You're my son and there is never anything that you could do that could make me think badly of you. You're an amazing person and don't you ever forget that."

He drank the water, the water helping him calm down a bit. "Sometimes I can't tell if there are people or monsters around me. If I need to grab Riptide or if I just need to calm down. I can't sleep because of the nightmares." He told her a lot calmer.

She didn't know how to reply to this; it was all so unfair. Was this the gratitude he got after fighting two wars? He needed help, but now was not the time to talk about it. He needed to calm down a bit and go to sleep.

They sat there for at least another hour and eventually he yawned. "How did I get so happy with you as a mom?"

"I'm the lucky one." She answered, kissing his forehead, "And I'm never going to give you up." 

A/N

Sorry this isn't really a Percabeth one shot but I really wanted to write this. I needed to get the idea out of my head. Hope you liked it and have a nice day!