Chapter Text
“Percy!” Annabeth’s screams tore through his mind. “PERCY PLEASE!” Her voice was full of pain, of sorrow, of suffering. It came from every direction, consuming and disorienting him. The space seemed to shift with every step he took, only ever seeming to carry her cries further and further from him.
“Annabeth!” He yelled, but the sound never escaped his lips. He kept trying, his vocal cords shredding to no avail. Percy searched desperately, tears pricking at his eyes. I’m coming! He tried to yell, I’m right here! She had to know. She had to know he was coming for her. She had to keep fighting.
A scream echoed just out of sight, but it was the silence that followed that scared him the most.
His legs burned as he ran as hard as he could. The pounding on pavement turned to splashes under his feet. Water, but further off… blood.
Suddenly he shot up in bed, gasping for air. He looked around the room frantically. “Annabeth…” finally escaped from his lips. His hands shook as he clawed his chest, heart pounding like it was trying to rip out of his chest and find her itself.
It was getting harder and harder to distinguish which dreams were prophetic and which were just the horrible creations of his own mind turning against him. Images of her face as she held up the sky flashed across his mind, her screams were still ringing in his ears. He couldn’t escape it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, that she was gone.
He tore out of his cabin, not bothering to be quiet and barreled toward the grey stone cabin across the way. He’d barely had to bang three times before the door swung open.
“Dude, you’ve gotta stop doing this.” Malcolm's face was tired.
”Get out of my way Malcolm.” Percy snapped, already scanning the cabin.
“She’s fine Percy,” Malcolm tried to talk him down with a soft tone, but still firmly blocked the doorway with his arm. “She’s safe. You know you’re the first person we’d tell if anything happened.”
“I need to see her.”
“She’s finally asleep.” The response was firm. “She needs to rest.”
”I need to see her!”
Malcolm sighed with frustration as he gave up the fight, a sound Percy had become familiar with as he finally pushed past him. Percy rushed to Annabeth’s bedside like a magnet being pulled toward her, kneeling beside her. He desperately searched for the rise and fall of breath, only now being able to join in its slow rhythm.
Malcolm’s hand clasped his shoulder. “She’s good man. We’ve got her.”
Percy slumped against her bed frame, his own exhaustion taking over his body now. “I know.” He breathed.
“She’s tough.”
”I know.”
Annabeth was the toughest person he knew. She’d lived on the street since she was seven, she’d been to the underworld and back, she held up the sky for gods sakes. No matter how bad things got, she could always seem to handle it. She wasn’t the one he was worried about being tough enough. He couldn’t lose her. Not again. He’d gotten too close last time.
“I just-“ Percy buried his face in his hands. Words couldn’t describe it. They couldn’t describe the burning pain in his chest when she wasn’t beside him. When he couldn’t be certain that she was safe.
”I know.” Malcolm shook his head quietly, looking carefully over his little sister. “We’re all worried.”
Percy eyed Annabeth’s hand where it hung from her bed, still bandaged from the strain of the past week. He wanted to look away, the sight of her now felt wrong. She looked too small, not at all like the warrior he always knew her as. But looking away felt even worse, like the second she was out of his sight, she’d disappear into the night.
Tension hung in the air between them, Percy couldn’t stop waiting like something was coming. Nothing did.
“Percy, you have to go to bed.” Malcolm pleaded. But the sound didn’t reach Percy’s ears, his eyes were locked on her horribly calloused fingers. Fingers that hadn’t always looked like that, that had been soft and polished only days ago. If he was looking out for her better, they still would have been.
“Chiron’s gonna kill me if he finds out you’ve been in here.” Malcolm whined. Percy was nearly satisfied when-
“Wait.” There.
”Percy…”
”Shut up!” There it was again, the slightest twitch of those fingers. Percy’s eyes anxiously flicked to Annabeth’s face. A small crease had formed at her brow.
The sliver of calm that had reached him was long gone now. He knew what this was. After nights on trains, and boats, and roads together Percy knew what this was. Almost subconsciously, his thumb began to trail along her knuckles as he watched her breathing get more and more ragged. Small, quiet mumblings of comfort escaped his mouth without a thought. “I’ve got you. You’re safe. I promise.”
Annabeth had never been one to trust promises, Percy knew that, she’d seen how easily some people could break them, but Percy couldn’t help but make this one, he knew he’d keep it. Like an oath, or a vow.
After a moment she’d begun to relax back into a comfortable sleep and Percy seemed satisfied enough to pull himself back beside Malcolm, but not before gently brushing a stray braid out of her face, her brow relaxing with the pass against her skin.
“Her hands shake when she has nightmares.” Percy stated quietly, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. He said it with certainty, his eyes still hovering over her cautiously.
Malcolm couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.
“What?”
Malcolm shook his head with a small smile. “Nothing.”
—
“I’m giving you five more minutes.” Malcolm called from his bunk. “Then I’m kicking you back to your cabin.”
“I’d like to see you try.” Percy yawned from the stack of books he’d been slumped against for the past hour.
“Look man, you’re not the only one being kept up here.” Malcolm whined. “She’s good, she’s comfortable, and the only things that could possibly make her uncomfortable is me being tired in the morning. Do you want to be the one responsible for her discomfort?”
“You know what she’ll find more uncomfortable? Nightmares about holding up the sky. I didn’t see you doing much to help with that.”
“See? The lack of sleep is getting to you. You’re getting all snippy-”
”I’m not snippy!” Malcolm gave him a look. “I’m not snippy, I’m just-“
”Worried, I know. But you’re no use to her if you’re too exhausted to do anything, so it’s time to go back to bed.” Percy didn’t think he was too exhausted. That is until he realized that Malcolm had led him all the way out to the cabin’s porch without him noticing. “Goodnight Percy.”
”But what if she’s not-“ He was cut off by a snore he knew by heart. Malcolm gave him another look.
“Let her sleep” was the last Malcolm said before shutting the door in his face. Screw Malcolm.
Just a few more minutes. He’d sit on the porch steps for a few more minutes and if Annabeth’s snores continued, Percy would know that she was fast asleep and felt safe, then he could go back to his cabin.
Back on their first quest, Annabeth’s soft snoring annoyed him relentlessly, they always woke him from his own light slumber. Imagine what that Percy would think knowing that tonight, it would be the only sound that could lull him into a peaceful sleep.