um... i hope ya'll aren't offended by foul language, because Annabeth doesn't hold back in this one lol :)

ANNABETH CONSIDERED HERSELF a relatively level-headed person.

Sure, she had her moments, like any other human being- when she was overly tired or particularly stressed, she might snap or make a comment she'd regret. But for the most part, it was uncharacteristic of her to lash out. She wasn't as impulsive as Percy, or some of the other ADHD demigods that floated around camp. She liked to think that she thought things through before acting on any decision. After all, Athena always had a plan.

But Daisy had just told her bed-ridden boyfriend "We need you as bait" and she was seeing red.

Annabeth didn't realize that she was moving forward to slap the Inhuman until the smack of her hand against Daisy's cheek echoed throughout the room. She was vaguely aware of Percy moving to sit up, to grab her arm and calm her down, but she was having none of it.

"Tell me it was a joke," she seethed, a breath from Daisy's face. The agent had set her jaw, but her eyes were easy to read. They were heavy with regret, which only enraged Annabeth more. "It better fucking be a joke. After everything I told you? And your fucking 'I'm sorry's?'"

The blonde thrust a finger back at Percy. She was shaking with anger. Annabeth couldn't remember the last time she'd been this mad.  "He woke up from a coma this morning. Because of Ward. Because of you. And you want to use him as bait?"

"Annabeth-" Percy warned. She spun on her heel, gray eyes ablaze. 

"Oh, don't start," she growled lowly. Her voice quivered dangerously, seconds from screaming or crying or both.  "Don't fucking start. We all know how much you love your self-sacrificial shit. You don't get to do that to me. You don't. Not after the shit show we just got out of."

Percy flinched at her words, expression hurt. His fingers twitched, wanting to do something, but he hadn't the slightest clue what. Daisy took advantage of his hesitance.

"Annabeth, I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think there was any other way. If we send you home, Ward's going to come after you. We might as well be there when he does. If we don't stop him now, he'll never stop coming."

"The same way you wouldn't have kidnapped us if you knew how fucked our lives already were? If you'd thought for a second about how we're teenagers before trying to make us government property? No. Fuck that. Fuck you," the demigod fired off at Daisy. She looked back at Percy, eyebrows raised. "Fuck you, too."

The dark haired demigod gaped at her. "Wise Girl-"

"Nope. No. Gods, this is-" she laughed, near hysterics, "-this is good. I need a break. I'm done with this."

Daisy didn't make a move to stop her when Annabeth stepped around her and left through the door, slamming it shut with a bang that made the last two remaining flinch.

Percy groaned immediately, dropping his head into his hands. He carded his fingers through his dark hair, pulling at his waves in a way that must have been painful. He cursed shortly.

Daisy shifted uncomfortably. Her face burned where Annabeth had hit her, but she didn't dare mention it. She'd deserved it. She deserved worse, honestly. "I-"

"Thanks for that," the demigod breathed out, still yanking. "Really, thank you. That was really awesome. That was great. I really enjoyed that."

"I didn't mean-"

"It doesn't really matter what you meant, does it? You did it, and-" Percy cut himself off abruptly with a hiss of pain; a hand flew up to his shoulder as a red hot heat burnt threw him. He probably shouldn't have jostled it so much while it was still healing from minor surgery. Maybe he shouldn't really be doing anything after getting kidnapped and tortured for a few days before flooding an underground base, but that wasn't really up to him, was it? And that wasn't even his biggest problem right now.

Annabeth being upset, and mad at him, had him agitated- and he was already annoyed at his body for being so weak, and stressed about the danger S.H.I.E.L.D. had put his family in. There's nothing more that he'd love to do than run out to find his girlfriend, but he had no clue where she would have gone in this gods forsaken base, or how he could find her while dizzy and nauseous.

Daisy moved forward to help; Percy held up a hand to stop her. "Don't. Just- don't," he breathed through the pain. They sat there in awkward limbo when the door opened again.

Percy snapped his head up, hopeful, just to roll his eyes when he realized it was Coulson. The man entered shyly, unaware of how to approach the situation. He still hadn't talked to Percy since he'd woken up; Annabeth hadn't let him anywhere near the boy. Annabeth, who had just stormed past him in a flurry of curses (she had to be par with Fury at this point with the colorful language).

He settled with a small smile. "It's good to see you awake and moving."

The teen barked out a laugh. "Oh, is it?"

So, no niceties, then, Coulson thought. He cleared his throat. "I assume Daisy-"

"I told them," the Inhuman confirmed.

The director nodded. "I know what we're suggesting isn't ideal-"

"Could you guys, like, just not for just a second?" Percy interrupted, pushing the balls of his palms into his eyes with a frustrated huff. "Just give me one fucking moment to process what the hell is going on. Like seriously, no offense, but shut the Hades up."

Daisy and the director shared grim looks, nodded. They waited in tense silence as the injured demigod breathed heavily, eyes scrunched shut.

He eventually looked back up, a deep crease set between his eyebrows. He ground his teeth before he spoke again. "I'm not talking about shit with you before I talk to Annabeth."

"Okay," Coulson agreed immediately. "I'll have someone get her-"

"No! No, don't fucking touch her, leave her alone- have any of you learned anything? Gods. She's pissed and I guarantee she's not gonna want to talk to me so she sure as Hades isn't going to want to talk to you. But I have no idea where she is, so I'd appreciate if you gave me a little direction before I go try to fix your mess."

Daisy looked at the teen warily. He was in no condition to be up and walking around the base, much less search for someone. The kid was shaking, and it wasn't just from anger. "You're hurt."

"No way, really? How'd you guess that?"

"Percy-"

"Stop."  the demigod begged with a shuddering breath. "Newsflash, I went to Hell for a week and got spit out just in time to fight Mother Nature, and managed to survive that. This is nothing compared to what I've been through. So just-" a fresh wave of pain made him hesitate. His hands gripped the mattress. "Just back off, alright? Go save the world twice before trying to tell me what to do."

His angry rant couldn't have been intimidating; not when his tired voice kept cracking and he had to keep stopping between shocks of pain. Still, it was effective. Within minutes Coulson had figured out where Annabeth had run to (the residence suite she'd been spending time in, turns out) and called in Mack- the most neutral agent to Percy that he trusted- to escort the demigod there.

Percy didn't really know what to make of Mack. He was kind, and accommodating, and his demeanor made him long for his friendship with Beckendorf in a way he hadn't in a while. There was just something.... easy about the guy.  The kind of easy that made you want to talk to him, to tell  him everything. The man's eye was significantly swollen, a butterfly bandage along his cheekbone. His arm was in a sling. The demigod was reminded that he and Annabeth weren't the only ones that had been taken and hurt by Ward, and felt a simmering of guilt that he'd dragged the agent out of resting to walk him to Annabeth.

"Don't worry about it, kid," Mack broke the silence between them, halfway down the hall. It was as if he'd read his mind. He had matched Percy's rather slow pace; his limbs felt like molasses, and his steps showed it. The demigod didn't respond, but the agent continued in the low timbre of his.

"You know, you remind me a lot of my younger brother, sometimes."

Percy shot the man a wary look as he limped forward. Mack looked conflicted with his admission. The teen felt like he should say something, but he wasn't sure what. Luckily for him, Mack wasn't done yet.

"You're both- funny. Care a lot about the people you love. Stubborn. Impulsive," Mack added with a small smile. They took a left down a corridor. "Strong."

The demigod pursed his lips, turning his head down to stare at his government issued sneakers. It was nothing he hadn't heard before, but the honesty in Mack's voice made him want to keep talking.

"Is your brother...?"

Mack exhaled fast out of his nose, seemingly getting what Percy was asking. "Oh, he's fine. He's in California, running some old bike restoration shop. We, uh, got into a spat a few years back, though- ended with him getting shot in the shoulder, which, unfortunately, is another thing the two of you have in common-"

"Are you guys over your spat?" Percy interrupted without really meaning too. His voice was starting to get tight. Mack made a conscious effort to slow his pace back down for their last couple of steps at the observation.

Mack sighed. "It's complicated, as most things are. But we're better. And- we're here," he stopped at a door. There was nothing special to it, but Percy felt his heart drop anyway. He really wasn't in any mood to console angry Annabeth. He wasn't even sure he had the energy. He was in pain, tired and testy, and the last thing he wanted to do was the say the wrong thing and piss his girlfriend off any more. Logically, he knew she wasn't actually upset with him- she was just scared, and tired, and homesick. Not unlike himself. But he wasn't about to leave a scared, tired, homesick and maybe a little angry Annabeth alone.

So, despite his reservations, Percy knocked lightly on the door.

"Good luck, kid," Mack offered with a terse smile when there was no response. "Let us know if there's anything we can do for you. Careful with that shoulder, alright?"

Percy nodded with a quiet thanks, man before slipping into the room.

The door gave a sturdy click behind him. He stood awkwardly in front of it. The room was dark, sans for a small bedside lamp that illuminated Annabeth's form. She was against the headboard of an unmade bed, knees pulled up to her chest. Ringlets of her blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders in waves. They hid her face. She made no move to look at him.

"It's me," he offered against the silence. His voice was noticeably thin. Percy quickly cleared his throat and tried again. "Percy."

Annabeth didn't move at first. Eventually, she lifted her head, turning her cheek to rest on her arms. Even in the darkness her boyfriend could see the redness of her eyes. The gray was none the less intense, however, especially as they stared straight through the silence.

Percy didn't know what to do. Annabeth not talking was uncharted territory for him; his girlfriend was a lot of things, but a quiet fighter was not one of them. She typically told him exactly what was wrong, and why, and what she wanted him to do about it. It was always scary in the moment, but at least he didn't have to guess. The usual protocol was listen, apologize, and fix.

Now there was nothing to listen or apologize for, and he had no clue how to fix it.

He settled for taking a seat on the bed next to her.

She watched him twiddle his thumbs for a minute. "You should be resting."

Percy shrugged- painfully. "Ah, well- bed rest," he gestured to where they were.

Annabeth snorted harshly. She shook her head. "Always with the jokes. I know you're in pain."

"You are too."

Another wave of tension fell over the room. It felt like hours before Annabeth finally let her shoulders drop. Her head turned up towards the ceiling. Her next words weren't any louder than a normal tone, but in the quiet it felt like yelling.

"You know, Leo and Malcolm are here."

Percy faltered, eyebrows shooting up.  "Uh- what?"

Annabeth sniffled, nodding and rubbing her cheeks. She didn't bother looking at him- just stared straight ahead, doubled over with her elbows on her knees. "Yeah. Harriet too. Don't know if you've met her yet, she's a daughter of Hestia. In my history class.  Nico was there, too, to get us out of the HYDRA base. And they did," she laughed bitterly. "Good thing they risked all that just for our 'friends' to want you to go back."

"How- how did they even-?"

"Towing company called Paul, Paul called camp. They all hacked into- well, tried to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. servers at Stark Tower, ran into Iron Man, Stark called Coulson."

Percy gaped. "Uh-"

"I know."

A thousand expressions ran across his face. "How, though, did-"

Annabeth fought a sob, falling forward into her hands. "Percy, I can't do this right now. They're here. That's my point."

Percy didn't say anything (smartly). Just stood and stared for a moment. It was a lot to process, but in the end he decided to shove it to the side. For now, at least. His focus was Annabeth right now, and he wasn't going to lose that.

She snuck a glance at him- his heart broke at her red eyes and the tears ornamenting her cheeks.

"Annabeth-" he said sadly. "I-"

"Stop," she choked out, turning into her palms. "Stop, I'm supposed to be mad at you."

"Please don't," was Percy's pathetic reply. "Annabeth, I need you. I-"

"I need you too, asshole," Annabeth sobbed. "Which is why you can't, you can't risk going back. You didn't hear the things Ward said about you. What he said he would do to you, why he took us in the first place."

He swallowed, tentatively reaching out for her, but she pulled away. His hand fell uselessly to his side. He ignored the sting of rejection that followed. "What did- what did Ward-"

"I don't want to repeat any of it, Percy. I don't want to think about it. I'm- I'm so tired of this, Percy. Of worrying, and- And I'm scared, because, because- I thought, I thought everything was finally getting back to normal. Or, whatever normal is for us. We were getting better, and now? I don't know see how any of this is getting any better, how we're supposed to fix this? How are we ever going home, I-"

Percy couldn't take it anymore. He surged forward, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend the best he could with a shot shoulder. Annabeth crumbled, shaking and crying into him. Tears of his own fell. "And you know what sucks the most, Percy?"

He didn't trust his voice. He merely shook his head, pulling her closer.

"What sucks is that it doesn't matter what I think, or what I want. I know they're right, and I hate it. We can't go back until they have Ward, and they won't have Ward until he thinks he can have you. I don't want to take that risk, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter."

Percy let her cry, rubbing her back with his good arm as he thought. His brain, despite how tired it was, ran in circles, trying to find one way to make this right. Somehow, he only landed on memories. He started talking before he was even sure where he was going with it.

"Wise Girl?"

She hummed.

"Remember our first quest?"

Annabeth stilled at the memory. She pulled back, studying his face curiously. "I don't know if I could forget."

Percy nodded. "We were twelve. I'd had, what, a month of training? And they gave us a hundred bucks to get from New York to LA. While simultaneously expecting us to find a lightning bolt we'd never seen and return it to Olympus." 

The blonde's lips pursed. She sniffed and wiped her cheeks, tilting her head. "What are you getting at, Seaweed Brain?"

He blinked away a few tears of his own, looking towards the ceiling. "Remember the Sea of Monsters?"

"Which part? The you turning into a guinea pig part, or Grover getting married to a cyclops?"

"Think of my astounding heroics that blew you away. Or how you stepped on my face while we were free climbing up a cliff." 

Annabeth snorted, but said nothing.  Percy shifted, trying to get more comfortable. His shoulder was throbbing steadily now, but he wasn't going to mention it. He had a direction now. 

"Remember holding up the sky?"

"I miss our gray hair," she said wistfully. 

"Getting through the Labyrinth?"

"Everyone thinking we made out in the Labyrinth, yeah" she joked, not wanting to think of the darker, scarier things that still gave her nightmares, or the bottomless grief and anxiety Percy's "death" had caused her.

"We defeated Kronos. I survived the prophecy- you found me after I got kidnapped by a goddess and had my memory wiped. You helped make a flying ship- which, is a huge insult to me, by the way, 'cause ships shouldn't fly, but anyway- You outsmarted Arachne. By yourself. We-" he hesitated, swallowing. "We fell into Tartarus, and made it out alive. Defeated Mother Earth herself."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. His speech had started off somewhat lighthearted, more nostalgic than anything- but now, the things he had brought up... they did all they could to avoid talking about them- to avoid remembering the fear, the pain, and the suffering. They couldn't; they were barely sane having lived through those memories. Reliving them would drive them insane. So, why?

"Percy Jackson," she started gently. "Where are you going with this?"

He met her eyes. His green irises were darker than she'd ever seen them. "We've done a thousand impossible, improbable things. So what's one more?"

The tears came back. "Percy," she whispered. 

"Wise Girl. You make the plan. I'll be bait, whatever, if that's the risk to being able to get home safe while protecting camp and Mom and Paul and Estelle- you. But screw the agents. You make the plan. There's no one I trust more. I hate it, as much as you do, but if we have to- we do it together, right?"

"Always," she whispered.

He sniffed, offering a watery smile. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she surrendered, laying her head on his chest. His heart was racing- probably a mixture of pain and panic from the task that lay ahead them. Annabeth let the silence settle as she gathered her thoughts.

"Step one of the plan. You ready?"

He hummed in response. 

"Alright," she sat up. Having a job, a role in the solution had already relit the fire under her feet. Given her back some of the control she'd thought she'd lost. "You're going to go back to the med bay, get doped up on pain meds, and sleep. Ah, no interrupting," she scolded at his frown. His mouth snapped back shut. 

"You're going to rest while I talk to Malcolm. Hopefully get more intel about the way Ward operates from the asshole agents. We'll draft something up, and by the time you're awake and feeling better you can add your input."

"I get input?"

Annabeth shot him a dirty look. "Maybe, if you don't push it."

Percy gave a half-hearted smile, closing his eyes. Despite the teasing, Annabeth still felt on edge. Looking at her boyfriend now, face poorly disguising the pain he was in, she could feel the rage pulsing through her veins. She didn't take it lightly that he didn't push back at all when she told him to rest, something he only did when he was dead exhausted and in serious pain. Still, with a deep breath she held in down. She'd direct the energy into this plan, the strategy they needed to go home. 

And they would. Go home, that is. 

They were going home if it killed her. 

bbbbbbbb

so... shorter than usual but it's more of an intermediate before the big battle (spoiler?) and end :)

who's still with me? how have you all been? i underestimated the time commitment of life but i still want to finish this book, however long it takes. i have the upmost appreciation for those still reading, liking, commenting, and following despite the sporadic and horrible update schedule i follow (which is to say, there is no update schedule at all). 

love you ALL. i miss interacting with you all on here! reach out if you ever need anything, old and new readers alike <3 

JustAnotherGirlmcg