Happy New Year guys! Sorry for the wait (I know I say that every time, I do mean it though! You guys are amazing and don't deserve this but I'm a slow writer I'm sorry!), hope it was worth it!

Oh, and let's say the whole Magnus Chase thing is after this predicament. :)

Annabeth took a deep breath to calm herself, avoiding eye contact with the other agents at the blonde doctor's sudden outburst. The group glanced about each other, unsure of what to do after Lincoln had dragged Daisy away to the corner of the lab, just far enough away to where they couldn't hear. Agent James, the brawny guard, awkwardly cleared his throat after a few moments of silence. He seemed desperate to escape the stiff environment, as did Annabeth. Solutions raced through her mind, such as asking for a better explanation to the whole inhuman situation, or the fact that Norse gods joined the Greek and Egyptian for being more than just mythology... but her mind itched with curiosity about something less trivial.

This Lincoln guy. He seemed much too uncomfortable for S.H.I.E.L.D. to be his permanent career- his posture had seemed guarded, unsure. She hated pity, but the empathetic look in his tawny eyes piqued her interest rather than insult. She had a feeling that he could be an ally if need be.

Her stormy gray eyes slowly flicked over to her subject of interest. His back was to her; his motions had grown to be more animated, and Daisy's face continued to harden as their conversation- rather, argument- continued.

Their voices began to rise, but were quickly brought down to a more manageable level. Agent Morse whistled when she followed Annabeth's eyeline. "This should be interesting."

Agent James rolled his eyes, crossing his arms brusquely. "How long is that going to take?"

Morse grimaced, narrowing her eyes at the two agents across the room as they marched further away, clearly not wanting to be heard- and evidently not planning on resolutions anytime soon. She shrugged before turning back to Annabeth with a sigh, scanning her quickly.

"Are you going to talk at all?"

It took Annabeth a second to realize she was talking to her. The blond shifted, her eyes snapping back to the agent at the desk. Tendrils of oily hair fell in her face, which she forced back behind her ear. Her ponytail holder had broken earlier, and her blonde curls grew unrulier with every passing minute sans a brush.

"If you talk, it will make all of our lives easier," Bobbi lamented absentmindedly, turning back to the computer. Annabeth studied the woman in front of her, psychoanalyzing her before she realized she was doing it. By her bored, stern expression, she obviously didn't want to be here: not necessarily with Annabeth, but stuck in a lab. Her build was an easy indicator that she was not solely a scientist; no, her talents reached far beyond that- something had happened to limit her to lab work. She was a field agent. Her blonde hair was curled flawlessly, her eye makeup applied lightly but precisely. Someone had free time.

"You can ignore me, but I'm telling you right now: this is a lot of freedom we're giving you here. We have much more uncomfortable, invasive ways of doing this. Just ask your boyfriend," she muttered the last part under her breath; if Annabeth had been focused she may have heard it, but fortunately she didn't. She didn't need any more excuses to seem weak in front of these people.

"What do you want to talk about?" she spat, not in fear, but annoyance. "It seems to me you don't need my help. Our DNA matches Thor's. Whoop de freaking do. You're not taking Thor into custody and accusing him of terrorism."

Agent James smirked, raising a finger. "Actually, we did once. Of course, that was before he saved the world..."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Oh, so they'd be scot free if she told them about the Titan and Giant's War?

The blonde agent spun to face the teen, narrowing her blue, almost gray eyes. The familiarity of the color sent a wave of uneasiness crashing over her. "What we're saying, is that with the likelihood that you're a Greek demigod- and the universe is certifiably insane- you're dangerous. And your history is ample evidence of this."

"What history?" Annabeth nearly shouted, spreading her arms. "Even if that was true, what does our parentage have anything to do with this situation?"

James shot out a few gruff instructions for her to take a step back. Apparently she had appeared too threatening. She reluctantly complied, not moving her gaze from the lock it had with Agent Morse's, who was sneering smugly. She was proud to have gotten somewhere with this. Daisy had been right. Separating the two teens for interrogation was much more efficient than having them both distracting each other.

"They went over all of this in the Quinjet, did they not? The Arch, the gunfight, Greece... oh, and here's an obscure one. The movie theatre, right?"

Fitz had just turned in that intel a few hours ago. Apparently, there had been some explosion in a theatre during a showing of Big Hero 6. Surprisingly, there were no injuries: someone had pulled the fire alarm about eight minutes before the whole place went up in flames. Coincidentally, Jackson had purchased two tickets using his mother's card for that date and time... and the theatre had been minutes from his family's home.

Annabeth grimaced. They had already gone over this indeed- and she gave them the best explanations she could for each one as well. Well, all but the movies. They hadn't asked her about that before.

That situation was entirely Percy's fault. He just HAD to insist on leaving in the middle of the movie he had dragged her to for popcorn.

Who knew their old pal Chimera would disguise itself as concession stand worker? He was lucky he pulled the fire alarm when he did.

(A/N I lowkey want to write out this scene I've concocted in my head about this haha, should I?)

"Why is it so hard for you to understand that we were kidnapped?" Annabeth emphasized. "We didn't know what was going on, we were kids. All we knew is that the guy threatened to kill us and our families if we didn't do what he wanted!"

Bobbi decided to play along. "Why you two, though? It seems awfully coincidental that he picked up two kids with superhuman abilities."

Annabeth clenched her jaw. "I don't have powers. And Percy has never used his maliciously. Just because he has powers doesn't mean he wants to destroy everyone, when will you understand that?"

Little did she know, her words almost completely echoed that of Lincoln's argument. He was growing more frustrated by the minute. On the other side of the room:

"Daisy, how can you not see how this is complete hypocrisy?" he hissed. His eyes glowed passionately. It was a stark contrast to the shrunken persona he had been carrying around with him the first few hours "God, you're no better than the ATCU."

The dark haired agent glared at him defensively. "I'm sorry, I suppose these two would be better on the streets, blowing up and destroying more buildings!"

Lincoln grabbed onto his hair, practically tearing it out in annoyance. "Are you even hearing yourself? Daisy, are you seriously telling me that these two teenagers are enemies because they have powers and DNA you haven't seen before?"

Daisy opened her mouth to rebuttal before deciding against it, closing it. She heard her teeth "click" before shooting back, "What are you getting at?"

Lincoln huffed, turning his head back at the curly blonde standing next to Bobbi and the other agent he didn't recognize. He studied her fiery expression, messy hair, and rigid posture. It was all so familiar.

"People want us locked up and killed because we're different, Daisy," he said finally, meeting her determined brown eyes. "They blame us for the accidents that happen when people hunt us down. Don't do the same to them," he pleaded.

Daisy squinted up at him in concentration. It only took a second for realization to hit her. Her round eyes widened.

"Shit," she murmured, her voice admitting defeat. Guilt settled over her. Without another word, she strutted over to the group near the front. Lincoln followed. Annabeth stopped, mid-rant, curious about the conflicted expression on the inhuman's face. Daisy frowned at her.

"Do you have enemies?" she asked pointedly, getting straight to the point. She searched the teen's face for a reaction. Annabeth scoffed.

"Do I ever," she murmured before she could think better of it. Apparently, that was answer enough for the inhuman. The young woman whipped around to face Agent Morse.

She pointed backwards at the teen. "Call this off," she ordered.

Morse frowned. "Daisy-"

"No, I need to talk to Coulson before we go any farther with this," Daisy said, not leaving room for debate. "James, take her to the showers or something."

The muscled man laughed, nudging Lincoln's shoulder lightly. "Man, I don't know what you said, but I'm impressed."

The blonde smiled awkwardly, not knowing what else to do. Agent James lifted his chin at the captive. "Come on, let's go." The two left quietly. By the time they had rounded the corner, no longer visible through the glass walls, Bobbi exploded.

"What the hell was that?"

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Coulson watched the boy in front of him, his heart clenching as he searched for what it was he said that had set him off. It could have been brought on by the stress of the situation- he imagined it couldn't be easy for all of the seventeen-year old's elaborate lies to be uncovered all at once, so quickly. Then again, he couldn't be positive. The kid was strong and had kept up with their pace the past few days with surprising resiliency.

There was a reason these kids were suspected terrorists- and they weren't doing much to help their case. If this entire situation was truly a mistake, and the teens were completely innocent, he was sure that they wouldn't have gone through this process with such anger and bitterness. Or would Jackson had been willing to offer so much of his beloved character. No, the average New York high schooler would be petrified. They would have broken down much sooner than this. And to think that they were clueless about the existence of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Inhumans, even? The two names had been plastered over every new station globally since the attack on D.C.

Something was up.

Something was desperately wrong as well. The teen was hyperventilating and had pressed himself up against the wall; his feet kicked as he tried to dig farther into it. It reminded Coulson of the videos of sleeping puppies, running from imaginary threats or chasing toys in their dreams. Of course, the scene in front of him was much less innocent. Jackson's eyes were shut tightly in a way that was surely going to give him a stress headache later.

The director tentatively kneeled beside him. He frowned. The kid's eyes darted frantically under his eyelids. This close, he could make out a subtle scar running under his left eye. Another crossed his jaw. Coulson squinted, and with a wave of uneasiness realized that they had to have been the result of some sort of blade.

The demigod mumbled something. His feet stopped thrashing. The tall, suited man watched with intrigue as his body suddenly tensed. Percy cried out suddenly, his face contorting in pain before inhaling deeply.

"Are there more demigods?" he had asked. Why had that caused this?

"Sir, they released Ms. Chase to the showers a few minutes ago."

Director Coulson spun around, ripping his attention away from the boy at the sound of Agent Miranda's voice. "Why?" he asked, genuinely confused- and a bit annoyed. "I told them to hold her in the lab until I came."

The petite analyst shrugged, her bright blue eyes flickering between the captive and the director. "I don't know, Daisy said something about wanting to... uh, is he breathing?" she cut herself off, her eyes widening in surprise. Coulson whipped around. To his own shock, the teen's face was turning blue; his chest had ceased to rise and fall. His heart was still beating, by the rapid pulsing behind his ear,

His first instinct was to grab the kid's arms and shake him roughly. It had no effect. Percy's body shuddered violently when he released his grip.

"Go get Chase, now," he commanded, surprising even himself when his voice broke. "Get her up here," he nearly yelled with a new sense of urgency. The black-haired woman turned to scurry out of the room, but not before their victim slumped over from lack of oxygen. The blueish tint that had overcome him slowly began to recede from his face as his body set itself to auto-pilot in his unconscious state.

"Miranda, wait!" he called her back. He cautiously turned his gaze away from the messy haired boy, his hair of which was matted to his forehead with sweat. He debated about whether or not he wanted to move him downstairs.

"Yeah, bring her up. Please," he decided after a second of silence. Miranda left, and he stood. When he looked down, the limp figure on the ground suddenly seemed much smaller.

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Annabeth had forgotten how disgusting the showers were.

She figured S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't need to try to impress it's captives and criminals, but there had to be some sort of restrictions for just how much bacteria and mold could grow on the walls. Seriously; this was worse than Percy's cabin, and that place qualified as a hazardous wasteland. He always begged her for mercy when she was in charge of cabin checks.

He always ended up getting a point or two higher than he deserved. What? Give a girl a break, Percy's a good kisser.

Her mind snapped back to the muck. Unfortunately, she didn't have much of an option. She glanced down at cheap bag of goodies they had given her: a towel, ridiculously thin flip-flops, a set of plain, dark grey cloths, a comb, and the typical shampoo, conditioner, and bar soap. It wasn't glamorous, but at least it was something.

She struggled with the flimsy curtain, unsatisfied with the lack of security it provided. She hesitated before stripping off her top and shorts she had been wearing before flicking on the water. She fiddled with the curtain one last time before biting the bullet and pulling off her undergarments. Annabeth inhaled deeply before stepping under the stream of water, the cold cutting her to the core.

There was no hot water down here.

Her body adjusted to the temperature quickly, and she lifted her head to allow it to run over her hair and down her body. She absentmindedly began to run through her usual routine, cursing when she remembered she couldn't shave. They didn't trust her with a razor, which was smart in retrospect but annoying for the time being. Her mind raced with thoughts.

S.H.I.E.L.D. knew they were Greek demigods. How exactly they came to that conclusion so quickly... well, she had misjudged them. They obviously weren't the typical government agency. They had claimed they had multiple encounters with those from Norse mythology.

That in itself was a shock. How could something this big exist without their knowledge? How did Thor and Zeus exist in the same universe? Percy was going to be thrilled to hear about that development; he had spent days trying to wrap his mind about the Egyptian spectrum of weird and weirder.

The real question that remained, however, was what the organization was going to do with this information- that she and Percy were demigods, the Greek mythology was real. From the current chain of events, they were about ready to lock them away forever. They were "dangerous" to society.

Percy certainly didn't help their cause by trying to fight his way through them the moment he woke up. That certainly wasn't his smartest move- she could file that away under the never-ending list of Seaweed Brain moments.

And what about camp? They had no idea where they were, not to mention that the base was seething with agents. It was one thing for Chiron to know they were missing and to have a brief understanding of what had happened, but a rescue seemed unlikely. Even if their friends managed to find them, the base had no shortage of weapons, if that one table in the lab was any indication. She doubted all of their guns lacked real bullets.

Which led her to think, should she have listened to her boyfriend about the whole Iris message ordeal? On one hand, their only chance of escape seemed to rest at the hands of people on the outside. There was no way the two of them could make a break for it inside a compound swarming with guards. It wasn't a movie; it wasn't possible. If gunfire started, they wouldn't be able to dodge the bullets; and they'd end up right back where they started, or worse.

The other half of her drowned with dread. By prolonging the conversation with Chiron, the agency was sure to ask about allies. Not to mention she was the reason she and Percy were separated at the moment.

She began to worry, but her thoughts were cut off when her fingers snagged a knot in her hair. She cursed in pain when the cheap conditioner did little to work it out; the cheap comb snapped at her attempts to untangle it. She left it with a sigh.

How did this happen? Of all the things, were she and Percy really going to meet their demise at the hands of mortals? And, well, the weird half-alien/inhuman thing Daisy had going on.

There was a sudden banging. She nearly slipped.

"Ms. Chase?" A feminine voice called out timidly. Annabeth shut the water off quickly in order to hear before quickly wrapping the ratty towel around herself.

"Yeah?" she answered back, unsure of what was happening. She hadn't thought she had taken that long if that's what this was about. Last time they just had a guard standing outside to take her back to the cell when she was done. Perhaps they were getting pushier.

"The director wants you upstairs as soon as possible," the voice said. "I'll escort you when you're ready."

Okay, what the hell. Really?

Though, she couldn't say she wasn't flattered by the attention. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself wanted her company.

Ha.

To make a point, she made it an ordeal to get decent. He could wait. She wrung out her hair and changed into the dark grey scrubs. They were a size too small and uncomfortably tight around her chest; the pants were long enough but squeezed her thighs unnaturally. She picked at the material for a minute or two before slipping on the cheap sneaker shoes they provided. She tugged at the knot in her hair after she finished, wondering how long she could stall before they got overly pissed.

"Chase," the agent ushered more urgently. Annabeth smirked. "Almost done!" she yelled back, wrapping her damp curls into a bun on top of her head. In all honestly, she'd been done for five minutes. She leaned into the mirror and picked at a pimple forming on the side of her nose.

The director was running on her time now.

"Look," the director's minion cried out once more. The pleading tone managed to snag Annabeth's attention. "I don't even know if I'm supposed to tell you this, but the black-haired boy?"

Annabeth froze.

"He's having some kind of panic attack, and-" 

Miranda didn't get the chance to finish her sentence before the curly blonde whipped open the door with passion. She stepped out, her heart in her throat. 

"Take me," she breathed out. She towered over the small agent, who nodded and winced before briskly leading the way. Miranda led them towards the elevators; Annabeth didn't bother to correct her. She didn't want to waste any time, not when Percy was... gods.

She steadied her breathing as the metal box began to count upwards, focusing on the fact that she needed to get to Percy. Memories clawed with a vengeance at the weak wall she had put up; she pinched herself to the point of pain to keep them at bay. 

The small, lean brunette looked worried at Annabeth's tense state. 

"Are you okay?"

The curly blonde nodded nervously, closing her eyes before breathing in deeply. "Uhh, no," she winced as unwanted images flashed in her head. Before she had a chance to hate herself for the break in demeanor, the elevator doors slid open slowly, as if to mock her. She scrambled out of the box of death as quickly as she could, sighing in relief.

"Where?" she demanded. The petite agent motioned towards the end of the hall. As they strutted through the seemingly ending array of corridors, several thoughts poked at Annabeth's resolve.

For one, the building reminded her a lot of the Labyrinth. There were a lot of turns that she had been too distracted to memorize. Which wouldn't help in the need of an escape, which would be probable if her second thought was correct. 

There was definitely a possibility this was some kind of trap. To lead her somewhere unknown without resistance? Seemed like a good deal for them at least. 

She didn't dwell too much on that, however, because by then she and Miranda had reached what she assumed was their destination. Miranda gave her one last look of pity before pushing open a thick metal door with a grunt.

Annabeth's vision locked on the chair first. Her heart fell as her eyes landed on a lanky man manning a table full of blinking monitors in front of it, who's badge she could barely make out as Miller with her dyslexia. She began to back up tentatively, ready to run. 

"Chase," Coulson called softly, beckoning her attention. Her eyes snapped to the noise.

And then her heart shattered.

She rushed over to her boyfriend's limp form against the wall and kneeled. His face was scrunched up in fear, glistening in the artificial light with sweat. He trembled at random intervals. His hands were in fists, his knuckles white. 

How long had he been like this. 

"Ten, fifteen minutes? He was out for a good three or four, though. " The director answered, shocking the teen. She hand't realized she'd said that out loud. She made eye contact. The hard eyes he had possessed were gone, replaced with sympathy. She narrowed her eyes. 

Wasn't he the entire reason they were in this fucking situation? What was he doing, pretending like he actually cared?

Annabeth bristled. "Get the hell away from him," she seethed, instinctively moving herself closer to Percy as she did so. Her boyfriend unconsciously flinched at the pressure of her body against his; without warning, a violent shudder ran through him and his hands flew out from his sides. His fists weren't focused or aimed, but the force still hurt a whole fucking lot. Annabeth gasped as the wind was taken out of her. Coulson backed up from Jackson, although Annabeth guessed that it was more in fear of getting hit than her own threat. 

She doubled over, wheezing as she waited for her diaphragm to relax. 

"What do you do when he stops breathing?" The director asked before she had a chance to sit back up, his voice laced with urgency. 

"What?" Annabeth responded instantly. She forgot about the need to catch her breath and straightened. Horror flushed through her when she realized that the man was right: Percy was turning blue.

His flashbacks hadn't been this bad in months. 

The first time it had happened it scared the literal Hades out of her; she and Grover had carried him to the beach, thinking the water would snap him out of it like it usually did, but it had only made it worse. Which, after she knew exactly what it was about, made sense... 

Kissing him didn't work; he was one hundred percent unresponsive. The only solution they had found was dumping nectar down his throat. It took too long for them to figure that out; he woke up without memory of what had triggered the episode, which only freaked him out more (thanks Hera)...

Annabeth's heart raced; she wasn't even sure it was beating, it was going so fast. If they didn't wake him before he fell unconscious, he'd just relapse into the same memory when he woke up again... or, just continue to not breathe. They didn't have nectar here. They needed some kind of stimulant, something to jump start his system...

(A/N Low-key feel like I could have written this where she just digs her fingers into the small of his back, but I'll save that for later. I have a purpose for this version so I'll keep it)

"Adrenaline," she burst out, mentally blessing Will for going over medical procedures to entertain her after her own visit to the camp infirmary. "You've got to have that in your lab," she determined, her face stony with determination. She turned to Agent Miranda. "A shot of adrenaline, now," she ordered, not minding the fact that the woman's actual boss was a foot away from her.  Coulson looked like he wanted to disagree for the sake of not letting the prisoner decide the shots, but swallowed his words and nodded at his agent instead.

The agent flew out the door as Miller looked on uncomfortably. If Coulson wasn't so worried about the current situation on his hands, he would have felt guilty for forcing the girl to run around the base for the past ten minutes as his other agent stood there idly. 

But, there were more pressing matters.

Annabeth swallowed. She pried open one of Percy's hands and put it in her own, almost regretting it when it tightened immediately; she was afraid her own might break. Her boyfriend's stomach spasmed repeatedly as his body desperately tried to get air into his lungs, sending tears to her eyes. 

If this was any testament to how royally Tartarus could fuck up a person.

"You said he already passed out earlier?" Annabeth choked out, meeting the director's eyes. He looked like he might cry himself. 

"He did the same thing he's doing now," Coulson explained hopelessly. His eyes were trained on the girl now. Her body quavered relentlessly. He didn't know what trauma these kids had gone through before they arrived here, but he didn't know how any seventeen year old could successfully handle watching their best friend, significant other,  a stranger even, stop breathing altogether. 

He was thoroughly disturbed by the events unraveling before him, and he had been with S.H.I.E.L.D. for nearly thirty years, been speared by Thor's adopted brother, and brought back to life with alien blood. 

The door to the room opened with an alarming bang, catching everyone's attention. But it wasn't Miranda.

"Coulson, we need to- uh," Daisy stopped mid-sentence, her mental train of thought screeching to a halt at the sight in front of her. Annabeth's looked up frantically, her mask of strength completely dissolved by the time Quake and Lincoln had filed in. 

"Do you have it?" she demanded. Daisy's eyes widened, confused. Percy Jackson was a crumbled- blue? - mess on the floor?

"DO YOU HAVE IT?!" The girl shouted. Her voice was thick with emotion. Her eyes shone with fear through a layer or tears that had not yet fallen. Daisy furrowed her brows, spinning to search Lincoln's face to see if he knew what the heck was going on.

He looked just as lost as she did.

"No, what-"

The blonde inhuman cut her off. "What's happening? What'd you do to him?"

Annabeth's heart clenched at anger in his tone. At least they had one ally in this.

The director stood up cautiously. "We were asking him questions-"

Agent Miller bit his lip innocently. "Well, technically we were interrogating him as he was strapped to a metal chair-"

"Is he not breathing?" Lincoln interrupted, striding over to the kid (If Coulson had a dime for every time he had heard that today). The teen's lips were void of color. The boy's girlfriend tensed, but upon making eye contact with the doctor, nodded. Giving him permission.

"We- he gets bad flashbacks," she murmured almost silently. Lincoln nodded, shaking the kid in an attempt to startle him awake. 

"We need adrenaline; he won't wake up otherwise, trust me."

Lincoln met Annabeth's eyes. A look of understanding passed between the too without a word. The inhuman clenched his jaw before turning back to Percy, readjusting his grip on the kid's biceps. 

"I'm going to shock him," he spoke almost reflexively. Annabeth opened her mouth to protest, but she didn't have the time. Electricity popped from the inhuman's hands. The current effectively jolted the teen awake. He inhaled deeply, thirsty for air before his eyes flashed open: bright, broken sea green. 

Everyone released breaths they didn't know they'd been holding. 

Annabeth instantly wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly into her. His arms were limp and didn't move from his sides, but she didn't care. 

"Thank you," she whispered to Lincoln, too focused on comforting her boyfriend than worrying about the details of how or why he was able to do what he did. He only nodded, moving away from the couple to give them space. He motioned to the others to leave, but none of them moved. They were too enthralled with the show in front of them. 

It took a few more seconds for Percy's mind to snap back into reality. And for him to start to cry.

Well, crying was putting it lightly. His grief started quietly: hidden, unknown. But it grew.

"Get out!" Annabeth commanded at the first choked sob. She might as well have been Piper with her charm-speak; without complaint, the occupants slowly filed out. The entrance closed with a heavy thud. The agents seemed to have forgotten that the two on the cold concrete floor were the prisoners, not them. 

The four didn't speak after the door shut. Daisy spoke first.

"Coulson, we need to talk about this."

He didn't even hesitate. "I know."

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Percy fell into her, the room silent between his broken cries. It was the horrible, ugly sobbing that hurt to hear, that tried so desperately to release the internal pain. She rubbed his back as he continued, not bothering to try and stop her own tears any longer. Percy had seen her at her worse, she didn't care. 

They stayed like that for ten, twenty minutes before he finally calmed down. They had moved so his head lay in her lap as she sat up against the wall; his face was red and blotchy. She ran her fingers absentmindedly through his hair and waited for him to speak first. She didn't want to push him. She hated to say it- she hated to think it- but he was fragile in this state, and she had to be careful not to say anything that could set him off again. 

Percy Jackson may have saved the world twice. He may be the strongest demigod in the modern era, the greatest swordsman. But he was human.

She could barely hear him when he spoke. "I'm sorry," he murmured. 

"No, Percy, no... you don't have to be sorry for anything," she spoke gently. She remembered in Tartarus- she had been a disaster the entire time. She was ashamed to say that she had completely lost hope.  She thought that trying to survive was completely pointless; why outlive one monster only to suffer at the hands of the next? Percy was the only reason she made it out, and he shouldn't have been down there in the first place. He was the only motivation she had. She had stood to the side and just cried as she watched him fight every monster she had ever read about. 

She was useless down there, but he refused to let her think that. "You don't have to be sorry for anything." 

So she echoed his words. 

He was silent, and she worried that she chose the wrong words until he spoke again. 

"I haven't... that hasn't... the last time was in February," he said finally, his voice hoarse. "I know this is bad."

She nodded thoughtfully. It was. They had made a lot of progress since then; this whole 'being kidnapped by the government' thing was sending them back quite a while. The elevator scene was bad, but she never would have expected it to get this intense again so soon. 

 "What happened?"

He went through the events of what had happened since they were separated, though he skipped the entire getting-thrown-into-the-chair detail; even as exhausted and out of it as he was, he was smart enough to know that it would only unnecessarily anger her.

"And... they know we're demigods. And then..." he swallowed nervously, "he wanted to know if there were more... of like, us."

"Demigods."

"Yeah."

Silence filled the room again. Annabeth looked down at her boyfriend, who had closed his eyes. Her eyes shifted to the steady rise and fall of his chest, which she took relief in. She watched almost obsessively, terrified that if she looked away it'd stop.

Minutes of quiet passed, and she had long since assumed that he had fallen asleep. That's why she was so startled by the sudden, "You smell nice."

"Hmm?" she hummed, unsure she had heard him correctly.

"You smell good, like strawberries or something," he mumbled again, tiredness blurring his words. His finger lightly brushed the the material over her knee, his touch sending sparks through her body despite the fact that her legs had fallen asleep ages ago from the weight of his kelp-filled head. "Who's clothes?"

"You don't," she replied honestly. "And I don't know. Sleep," she told him.

He shifted slightly, pulling his legs closer to his chest before sighing. "But I'm not... okay, fine. G'night."

Annabeth sighed in relief when he relaxed for a second time. She was too wound up still to sleep herself, so she decided to just watch his chest rise and fall as long as she could. 

Up, down. Up, down. Up, -

Percy's eyes flew open. "Annabeth," he announced with newfound clarity, scaring the life out of her. 

"Percy!" she scolded. "You need to rest, close your fucking eyes and-"

"I love you," he rolled over to meet her eyes. He wasn't smiling or smirking or trying to piss her off by being difficult. His face was blank, but his eyes were earnest. It was just a statement of fact. He turned back to his original position, snuggling into her side with a smile.

Annabeth stroked his hair one last time.

"I love you too," she whispered. 

Art by burdge

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wowwww i really strung out that ending haha but hey percabeth fluff amiright?

thanks for literally everyone who comments and reads and votes: superfangirl_03EatASnickers03Unknownattyfrekalface22TheCrazyFandomPersonFluffy_StuffedOwlNo_emotions27ZoeTheHunter1ItsATwixBookworm_712ceceskogsethraxon1221thebookwasbetter1313Gabstar_4pizzaandbooks2Ice_cream_and_booksmariderosi-callmeMimaridignifiedenigma FandomDemigods daughter_of_hades192 fandomsandfables Captain_of_the_ship Kablamstar Catgirlme BubblesTheHippo khonsu133 Unwanted-Criminal HI_dere_banana CinderLion Dragondreamer11 InsaneFantasyReader Hailey152 Gamergirl22130 Annabeth02 bad_wolf_bay CraftyMoose daydreamergirl2016 MyShipsRlife1431367s DC_lover eclipsedfire lililz2005 TotallyUniqueUsernam ShelbyxHarley ashtoon6171aliciafawn xXLady_Of_FireXx CloeTheTealSnake @Samantha2611 QueenJoEe Stiles_Roscoe BeateWinkle @OrangeQuota violaspunkybookworm plutosgenius PureTrash4 cajoling

Guys. This is literally just everyone that commented. If I could tag everyone who voted and read I would too. Spending twenty minutes tagging you guys just seriously makes me appreciate how many of you there are encouraging, supporting, and enjoying this story. It really means the absolute world, and I want you to know it is not something I take for granted! So THANK YOU. Continue to spread joy and happiness worlds, go on, be the salt of the earth. Love you all :)

JustAnotherGirlmcg