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depressedacadamia · 3 years

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The Anatomy of the Sun

Chapter II: One more Hour

A/N: Here’s chapter 2! I think I will be updating this around every 1-2 weeks because the chapters are really long. Anyway, here it the second chap, I hope you like it and please comment!

Word count: 17K

Warnings: Kissing (more like making out), a tad of angst, r!pe mention (the patient is a victm), some mental illness references if you squint.

Chapter I

Tagging: @showtunesandsolangelo

It’s all about lines.

Jason was feeling good, he could feel it- today was going to be great. He finally managed to correct the cute barista who kept on calling him Jack and he had found the perfect parking space. He was excited- maybe he’d even get into an OR today and take back his 007 status. That was until he was almost hit by a motorcycle. He watched as the rider swerved from side to side until finally, they pulled up, leaning their motorcycle to the side as they pulled off their helmet. He watched as Hazel shook her head back and forth, letting her dark curls bounce about as she stretched her neck. She ran past him, shooting him a respectful nod as she entered the hospital with her motorcycle helmet in her gloved hands.

The finish line at the end of residency.

Roommates. Nico was officially putting up a poster for roommates. He didn’t know why he didn’t just ask Hazel but at the same time, he did. Asking Hazel was a portal into too much family drama than he could handle. Having to attend family dinners with his family was bad enough, he didn’t want to start arguing with Hazel. Besides, he just wanted 2 complete strangers that he didn't have to interact with. He pressed his thumb into the pin, securing the poster.

Waiting in line for a chance at the operating table.

And then, there’s the most important line. The line separating you from the people you work with.

Juniper was waiting to get the lift, her bag swinging in her hands. She had made a bad impression on everyone so far- maybe it was because she was a model. She couldn’t lie, people had lacked respect when talking to her in particular and she had a feeling that it had something to do with her ex- career. Finally, the lift pinged and its doors opened, only for it to be full of people. She could tell they were all staring at her, not because she looked spectacularly bad that day (she had not slept properly in a month) but because they clearly all knew of her previous occupation. Juniper mumbled something about taking the stairs and decided to keep her head up high.

At least she wasn't under tons of crushing debt.

Hour 1

Nico slipped off his boots, trading them for some worn out trainers that were much more safe. The boots were old but he hadn’t worn them often due to their uncomfortable nature but for once, he had decided to wear them. Did he know why he chose them? No, he had just decided to slip them on.

“I would ask how last night went, but I think I know and I really don’t want to hear details,” Hazel said as she walked past Nico to gain access to her locker, referring to the bruise at the base of his collarbone.

“You’re just jealous that you haven’t scored an attending yet. I’ll bet you I’m in trauma today,” Nico bragged as he pushed his boots into the already overcrowded locker. Hazel rolled her eyes at her brother's typical behaviour.

“You know that he might think you guys are dating?” Hazel added, slipping on her white coat. Nico snorted as he pulled on his scrub shirt over his long sleeved t-shirt.

“I’ve made it very clear to him that we are not dating,” Nico scoffed, “ Now all I have to do is wait for the chase.”

“The chase?”

“The chase, you know? The whole trying to pursue this person you like. It gets to a point where I will have all the power and he will do anything I want,” Nico explained. Hazel raised an eyebrow at his boastful tactics but decided to make no further comment. She did however want to make a comment about the roommates poster he had put up.

“What's up with the roommates poster by the way? Since when did you want people living with you?” Hazel asked, slamming her locker shut, just as Nico closed his. Her hair was frantic, similar to her brothers who's olive skin was particularly glowly today- she did not want to know what from.

“The place seems empty and I need other people paying rent to afford it,” Nico complained. Now it was Hazel’s turn to snort. It wasn’t quite as big a knowledge that the Di Angelo’s were also extremely wealthy than it was knowledge to know of their surgical legacy- Well Bianca’s surgical legacy. Hazel, who was not in the mood to have a confrontation with her brother, simply nodded and left.

“Please! I’d be the perfect candidate! I’m super quiet and I won’t make a mess!” The intern opposite Nico begged as she told him all the things which supposedly made her a good roommate. Nico disagreed. There many reasons that he did not want her living with him but it came down to one which was she was much too young.

“No,” he concluded unsympathetically. He was about to get up and leave when he heard another plead from the intern.

“But why?”

“Where were you when the challenger exploded?” He turned around, slightly annoyed but nonetheless, still intimidating as usual.

“What?”

“The space shuttle, Challenger- where were you when it exploded?” he challenged.

“Uh, I think I was in kindergarten,” she looked up, trying to remember.

Nico huffed out, “Exactly.”

“Percy! We’re going to be late! We aren't going to be late, we’re already late!” Annabeth shouted as she stood by the door in her scrubs, her bag in hand. Percy, with his bed hair, rushed out of the kitchen in his scrubs, grabbing his jacket from the sofa before heading towards Annabeth and placing a soft kiss on her cheek in hopes of lightening up her mood.

“Come on Wise girl, we gotta go,” he grinned cheekily as he grabbed her by the hand opening the door of their house. Annabeth, unable to stay mad for so long, sighed before giving in and heading to the car.

“We are never having morning sex again if it means we’re going to be late,” Annabeth warned. Percy, feigning mock offence, held a hand to his heart and gasped.

“Your words wound me!”

Annabeth slapped his shoulder as she started the car towards the hospital. Percy stopped mucking about and placed another chaste kiss on her cheek to make sure all was well.

Juniper and Jason were both complaining. Nico didn’t think he could handle one of them complaining, let alone trying to deal with both of them- that was a challenge. They were all leaning by the stairs right next to the nurses station which were next to the elevators.

“But Nicoo, why would you put up a poster for roommates if you don’t want roommates? I swear, I’m a great chef and I clean obsessively!” Juniper argued, slumping her arm slightly on Jason.

“I do want roommates but we’re working together 100 hours a week, you want to live together too?” he shot back. He held 4 mocha latte’s in one of those 4 cup holders you get at a coffee shop. Without asking, Juniper snatched two, shocking Nico.

“That’s for not letting us be your roommates,” Juniper pouted as she handed one to Jason who nervously accepted. Jason leaned forward, trying to convince Nico,

“Please, I have to live with my sister and she blasts her music so much. I’m pretty sure my eardrums have popped,”Jason begged. Hazel, in this exact moment, joined them, giving Jason a sympathetic look before noticing the coffee in Nico’s hand. She casually took one from Nico, not caring about his reaction- she had taken his food before on several occasions (although the Happy meal incident did not go over well).

“Why aren’t you taking one?” Hazel nodded her head towards the last coffee in his grasp as she sipped hers- she frowned. Nico never ordered mocha latte. She had expected to be tasting coffee with way too much creamer or a hot chocolate but instead it was the distinctly strong taste of coffee.

“It’s not mine,” Nico hummed as his eyes searched towards the elevator, waiting for it to open. Hazel knew that Dr Solace was already here so what was Nico so invested for? It can’t have been Percy but perhaps the resident who would come with him

“Oh, you’re bringing bribes now?” Hazel pointed towards the coffee, thinking of Dr Chase.

“It’s not a bribe,” Nico defended, looking away sharply as he listened to Jason and Juniper continue to slander his name due to his lack of compassion with them living with him.

“Look, I just want to live with two total strangers that I won’t have to talk to or be nice to!” he confessed, throwing his free hand about in exaggeration. Unexpectedly, Dr Chase made her way down the main stairs (which surprised everyone as they expected her to be downstairs not upstairs). She quickly assigned them all tasks.

“Jason, you’re running the code team* today. Nico, take the trauma pager. Hazel, deliver the weekend labs to the patients and Juni- you’re on sutures,” She announced before heading back up the stairs, only to be stopped by Nico.

“Dr Chase, I was hoping I would be able to assist in the OR today, maybe even perform a minor procedure. I think I’m ready.” He thrusted the mocha latte into her direction, “ Mocha Latte?”

Dr Chase accepted the drink slowly before taking a small sip. It slightly burnt the tip of her tongue but she appreciated the gesture- however, unfortunately for Di Angelo, this did not mean that Dr Chase had accepted his request for surgery.

“Wait, if he gets to cut, then I wanna cut too!” Hazel insisted.

“So do I!” Juniper squished in between the interns. Jason, off to the side mumbled something about how it would be nice to get a second shot. However, this simply irked Dr Chase even more. She held her hand up signalling silence- at least the interns got this sign right.

“Stop talking,” she started, “Every intern wants to perform their first surgery. That’s not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whiny. You know what will make me look happy? Having the code team staffed, Having the trauma pages answered, having the weekend labs delivered and having someone down in the Pit doing sutures. No one holds a scalpel until I’m so happy, I’m Mary freakin Poppins!”

The interns, as clueless as ever, all stood staring at her with hopeful eyes as if they were baby birds expecting Annabeth to just feed them. She climbed a few steps before turning around and calling out,

“Why are y'all standing there, move!”

Quickly, all the interns scattered to their assigned jobs.

Hour 2

Will was waiting for an elevator as he noticed a short mop of black messy hair pick up a few files off the floor and clumsily place them on top of the overwhelming pile they already had in their small arms. Nico going to an elevator. Trying to not turn around and offer his help, Will kept to himself, smiling slightly at the small grunts the doctor beside him made. Nico finally managed to take a few more steps into Dr Solace’s eyeline, so he was standing next to him instead of behind. He tapped his foot as he decided to further his plan along.

“New york has ferry boats. There are also ferry boats where I come from. I didn’t know there were ferry boats here,” Nico mused. Will, slightly amused by Nico’s lack of geographical knowledge, retorted.

“New York is surrounded by water.”

“Hence the Ferry boats,” Nico concluded before admitting, “Now I have to like it here ya know. I wasn’t planning on liking it. I’m from Italy- genetically engineered to dislike everywhere- except Paris.”

“I have a thing for Ferry Boats,” Will decided to add, smirking slightly as they entered the empty elevator. Nico being the stubborn person he was, attempted to press one of the buttons with his elbow and Will had to practically force the floor level out of Nico. It involved a lot of bickering back and forth until they finally agreed and the elevator doors closed.

Out of nowhere, Nico quickly said, “I’m not going out with you.”

Will, already wounded that his attemp- could he even say attempts? Nico had cut him off before he had even gotten a chance to say anything but he was determined to get to Nico.

“Did I ask you to go out with me?” He turned around, smiling slightly so he only showed some of his sparkling teeth, “Will you go out with me?”

“I ain’t dating you and we aren’t sleeping together again. You’re my boss,” Nico decided to cut to the chase.

“I’m your boss's boss.”

“You're my teacher, and my teacher’s teacher,” Nico pretended to resist only resulting in Will mocking him.

“I’m your sister, I'm your daughter.”

“You’re sexually harassing me.”

“I'm riding an elevator,” Will protested. Nico glanced at the back of Will’s head and thought

His hair looked particularly neat today- it would be such a shame if it got messed up.

“I’m drawing a line. The line is drawn. There’s a big line. Don’t cross the line,” Nico breathed heavily, as if he was holding his breath. Will, still hellbent on teasing the cute intern, turned around, with his arms crossed and his hair as perfect as ever.

“So this line, is it imaginary or do I have to get you a marker?” he smirked, his voice low and teasing- Nico could tell. His crystal blue eyes were going all hazy and his baby pink lips were slightly tilted to the side as if they were just mocking Nicp by being there. They looked soft, no they were soft- Nico knew that from experience. He could see a small mole on the side of his neck as well as a purplish bruise that he may or may have not left there.

Overcome by his lack of impulse control, Nico flung himself onto Will, dropping all the files in his arms and mashed his lips on his- a gesture that was returned just as harshly by Will. The files flew across the elevator floor as Nico’s hands came up to desperately weave themselves into Will’s hair. They fought for dominance in the kiss slamming each other into the elevator- it was hot, needy and totally inappropriate. But it seemed that neither of them cared. Their lips just couldn’t get enough of each other. It was like a fire was getting ignited, a fire that couldn’t be put out. It was in both of them, absolutely raging, uncontrollable. Will was tempted to tell Nico, mind the hair but just then Nico slightly bit at Will's bottom lip, pulling it backwards gently and sucked ever so slightly, before returning to the kiss that had Will plastered against the elevator wall.

So you want to play dirty Di Angelo?

Nico was not going to give Will the chance though. Absolutely consumed by the kiss, he slightly pulled at Will’s hair evicting a small, but low, growl out of Will’s throat. Nico wasn’t sure if he heard that correctly but just as he was about to test it again, he heard the ping of the elevator. The fire within was smaller but it hadn’t died. Nico quickly pulled away and started scrambling towards the floor, trying to grab at the files as the elevator door slowly pulled itself open. Will, still a tad shocked, also helped, trying to organise the files into the right cases before handing them over to Nico. They stepped out of the elevator in sync, just like their pagers. Since Nico was also in trauma, he figured that whatever Dr Solace was getting paged for, he was also meant to be helping.

“I’ll join after I finish with these files,” Nico called out, as Dr Solace nodded and hurried off. Nico smiled to himself as he noticed that Dr Solace’s hair was sticking up in several different directions.

As Nico made his way into the Pit, he noticed a large crowd of doctors all looking slightly concerned- he hoped it was not for his patient- the more gruesome the injury, the more surgery required. However, the second he was told that it was a rape victim, he understood the facial expresions- they were disgusted at the crime, not the injuries attained.

“Dr Solace has gone to prep for surgery along with Dr Jackson,” a nurse informed him as he entered the room.

“Okay, we’ve got a 25 year old female, found down at the park, status post- trauma. She came in with a GCS* of 6. BP* is 80 over 60. Exam is significant for blunt head trauma, as well as unequal breath sounds, her right pupil is dilated and she’s ready for X-ray,” the nurse recited as Nico entered the room. He scanned his eyes across the room before his eyes landed on something familiar.

Were those his boots?

No, they were obviously not Nico’s boots, but they were the same boots. He wanted to shudder, knowing a potential rape victim was wearing the same shoes as him the day she got attacked. It was weird right? It felt weird, it was like there was some weird unknown connection and that in a way, these 2 people were very much connected- as if they were the same people who were living parallel versions of each other's lives. During Nico’s quick zone- out session, a nurse continued to try to call his attention- something he only noticed when they snapped Dr Di Angelo!

He quickly nodded as he grabbed his flashlight from his pocket and pulled her eyelids open, looking for a reaction from her pupils.

“Call ahead to clear a CT, let them know I’m coming,” Nico commanded, “Load up the portable monitor and call respiratory for a ventilator*. I will get X-rays while I’m down there.”

As he helped wheel the patient out of the trauma room, he glanced back at the boots identical to his. There was a blood splatter at the front of it, the laces where messily undone and the heel was the same height. He wasn't acting paranoid right? He couldn’t help but think that this was a weird coincidence.

Nico was slightly surprised to see Dr Zhang scrubbed in on the surgery with them rather than Dr Mclean- after all he was the head of Cardio and she was the head of General surgery- but even then, why any other attendings other than Percy and Dr Solace were required, Nico truly did not know.

“What is she? 5’2, 180 pounds? And she took a beating like this,” Will mumbled.

“They should castrate the guy,” Percy announced from the other side of the table, trying to stop the swelling of her brain

“Look how shredded her hands are, she tried to fight back,” Will pointed out.

“Tried to? The rape test came back negative, she kicked his ass!” Percy told them. Nico was invested to see how Dr Solace was repairing her hands while the 2 attendings talked about the bravery of the patient.

“So we have a warrior among us, huh?” Dr Zhang joined in. Nico couldn’t help but feel a tinge of annoyance. She had a name. She was a person. He didn’t know why he felt so strongly about a patient all of a sudden but he had a faint feeling that it had something to do with those boots.

“Allison… that's her name…. Allison,” Nico cut in the conversation. All the attendings stopped to look at him. Percy, being as supportive as ever, smiled and nodded before returning to fixing her skull. Will looked at Nico, his eyes calm, like the ocean at rest. To an extent, it reminded Nico of Percy’s eyes- something that could always calm Nico down. He watched as Will’s lips slowly parted as he murmured Allison's name under his breath. Dr Zhang took a pair of clamps from the nurse before slowly pulling his arm back.

“I think I’ve found the cause of our rupture….more suction.” As he drew his arm back, the surgical interns and residents crowded by his arm to have a look at the cause of the rupture. However, once the foreign object was removed, the surgeons became more and more confused- what exactly was this, a tumor? A mass?

“What is this?” Dr Zhang turned towards the doctors. They all scooted closer to get a closer look. Nico took a glance for a couple of seconds before opening his eyes wide in horror as he realised what exactly he was looking at. He was in a state of horror and curiosity.

“Oh my god… she bit it off,” Nico started hesitantly. Dr Zhang, Dr Solace and Dr Jackson all looked to him, stopping their individual procedures, waiting for Nico to continue speaking.

“Well, come on- spit it out!” Percy told Nico. Utterly conflicted, Nico decided to just spit it out- just as Percy had told him to.

“That's a..that's a…. um that’s a penis.”

Almost on instinct, Dr Zhang called for a kidney bowl and practically flung the castrated appendage away from himself. Will couldn’t tell if he should laugh or be alarmed at how Nico was the only person able to identify the penis.

Hour 5

The water ran over the surgeons hands as they scrubbed between all the crevices in their hands with soap. In between fingers, around thumbs and nail brushes scrubbed at fingertips. Dr Zhang and Dr Solace both stood side by side as they washed their hands practically in sync- just like their miraculous surgical skills.

“I can’t believe she made it through that surgery,” Will began as he switched off the tap by nudging it slightly with his elbow.

“She has a long road to recovery. Fighting off infection, physiotherapy and not to mention therapy itself,” Frank, in his honest nature, responded. He copied Will, turning off the running water with his elbow as he reached for some paper towels to dry off his hands.

“And she needs to wake up in the next 72 hours if she wants a chance at fighting. She’s a fighter, I believe she can make it.”

“Speaking of making it to places, we should get a drink later and you can tell me the long story of what makes a hot shot doctor leave a big apple for New York,” Frank offered as he threw his paper towel into the bin.

Will shrugged slightly, “It’s a short story really- your Chief of surgery made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“Chiron asked you to come?” Frank asked, genuinely shocked.

“Yeah, why?” Will turned around looking at Dr Zhang. He watched as Frank’s expressions twisted before he shook his head, gave a small smile and mumbled never mind.

“Do you know what the Code Team does? They save lives- yeah, I know. I shock a heart and another patient gets to live to see another day, pretty cool huh?” Jason slightly bragged, trying to make conversation with Hazel - who he knew was overly competitive. He was leaning over the shoulder of Hazel who leaned over the desk at the nurses station, organizing the patient files and lab results.

“Bambi, don’t say another word until after the hunter shoots your mother,” Hazel’s voice drawled with boredom. Jason practically speechless only managed out a meek,

“I don’t like you.”

Hazel sharply turned around, “You know, I have a BA* from Smith, a PHD* from Berkeley and an MD* from Stanford and I'm delivering lab results. It's gonna take me ages to get through these-”

“-Well then you better get a move on with it,” Dr Chase walked past, surprising the doctor. Hazel slightly intimidated, tried to protest that she wasn’t complaining but it seemed that Dr Chase didn’t really care. A doctor behind her with thick curly hair and a smug expression stood, trying to keep his expression neutral.

“This is Dr Underwood. Lucky Valdez got to get rid of him so now he’s got Mccaffrey and I’ve got Underwood on my service. Levesque, have him shadow you and show him how we run things on my service,” Dr chase commanded before walking off, slightly sashaying.

“Hey, I’m Grover Underwood, nice to meet you.” He held his hand out to Hazel who looked at it and recoiled slightly before looking at it in disgust. Jason was still trying to figure out if he liked this guy, he seemed quite polite so far but he truly wondered what Underwood did to get kicked off Valdez’s service- he had heard that Valdez was a pretty chill resident, getting kicked off his service would seem pretty hard.

“You’re the pig who called Nico a nurse.. Yeah, I hate you on principal,” Hazel admitted looking him up and down.

He did what? Jason thought as he eavesdropped on the conversation beside him.

“And you’re the pushy, overbearing kiss ass… I hate you too,” Grover grunted.

Okay, I defo don’t like this guy, Jason decided.

“Should be fun then,” Hazel sarcastically smiled as they both set off just as Jason's pager beeped signalling another Code Blue.

Jason ran around the corner, nurses following him as he found the patient's room. Immediately, he introduced himself. He had become more and more familiar with this procedure and while it had taught him that Hades was enjoying his job a bit too much, he was also hopeful for the patient in every room he had to run to.

“I’m Dr Grace and I’ll be running this code. What do we have?”

“57 year old male with an asystole pulse*,” A nurse from beside the bed answered. Jason ordered the defibrillators to be used as he had another person put on compressions, another on the ambu bag and someone administering drugs.

“Charging to 200, clear!”

The Pit was quite full as Dr June walked in, searching for her next patient. She picked up a chart from the nurses station that was positioned next to the emergency entrance and flipped the page to see the name. Mrs Lu, Bed 3

“Hi Mrs Lu, I'm Doctor June. I'm gonna sew up your wound, you’re going to need around 6 stitches.” Juniper turned around to start setting up the equipment from the tray only to hear a frantic cry of words coming from behind her. She only recognised the chinese word for hurt but even then, she could not decipher what Mrs Lu was saying. She sighed, wondering how long it would be until she could get a hold of a translator. She was tempted to ask Dr Zhang but she knew it was selfish and plain old rude of her to assume that Dr Zhang would be able to help her. She decided to wait for a translator.

Nico and the penis in a box. Yes, you read that correctly. Nico was holding the penis in a box or how he would like to put it, the forgein object in a cooler. They were making their way towards the office of the Chief Of Surgery. He slightly remembered the walk up to the room, the carpet and walls seeming familiar, like a second home. As he walked into the office, he was surprised to find Secretary Hedge there instead of Chief Chiron. He rapped his knuckles on the door gently, grasping the attention of the man sitting in the chair.

“Hey, I was told to leave this with the Chief.” He raised his arm with the cooler in his hand.

“Is that it?” A seriously over eager Secretary Hedge asked. Nico slowly nodded, trying to not fuel the secretaires curiosity. In a complete turn of events, Hedge asked,

“Can I see it?” Hedge watched as Nico struggled to keep his facial muscles under control- laugh or cringe, Nico did not know. Just as Hedge muttered a small, forget I asked, Chiron walked in with his white jacket and a large smile on recognising Nico.

“Nico! It’s good to see you!”

At this, Nico smiled. He had known Chiron for very long but the mass majority of the time that he had seen him, the attention was entirely focused on the potential for his sister- not much for him. He felt a bit guilty that he was enjoying the shine of her mentor while she was struggling but he finally felt noticed.

“How’s Bianca? I heard she was leaving the Mayo Clinic. Is she going back to the UN?” Chrion asked almost immediately. Nico could feel all the happiness and life in him slowly drain.So nothing had actually changed. He was still in his sister's shadow despite the fact that she wasn’t even here. Gods, she wasn’t even in this time period! Bianca was in a nursing home thinking she was reliving her surgery days and here was Nico somehow still under her shadow. If Bianca’s mentor wasn’t willing to see Nico’s potential as a surgeon- how many other Doctors thought that he was only here due to his Di Angelo status? Percy? Dr Chase? Did Doctor Solace think that?

Why does it concern me the most if Dr Solace doesn’t see past my status?

Nico decided that it must be because Dr solace was the head of his favourite department- Trauma.

“Uh, no. She’s taking time off-”

“-To write another book I suppose?” Chiron cut in, smiling as he picked up some papers off his desk and moved them underneath a folder. Nico simply attempted a smile in return, a gesture that did not alarm Chiron- he had known Nico Pre-Bianca and her alzehmiers. That Nico had been a very smiley person. Nico, who could have sworn his facial muscles were deteriorating as he smiled, decided to move the conversation to the matter at hand- the penis in a bo-

- The foreign object in a cooler .

“Well, I’ve got it,” Nico said half heartedly, lifting the cooler in his hand up slightly. Chiron turned to his secretary, conversing a few words with him, as if Nico had never entered the room.

“Uh, Hedge, how long did the cops say they’d be?”

“You know how slow they always are so he better take it with him-”

“-Take it with me? You want me to take a penis around the hospital with me?” Nico cut off Hedge, with growing anxiety- he did not want to have to babysit a penis. Gosh, being on Solace’s service was meant to result in fun, not this!

“It's the chain of custody rules. All medical matter in a rape must stay with the person who collected it until its placed into police custody,” Chiron ,who was secretlty relived to not have to keep the penis, recited.

“So I have custody over a penis,” Nico deadpanned. Sheepishly, the secretary nodded trying to not laugh at the poor kids' situation.

“Until the cops come from it, of course,” Chiron reminded Nico, as if knowing that the police would take their sweet time was any more re- assuring.

“And what am I meant to do with a penis?” Nico frantically asked, his cool persona falling and being slowly replaced by one of panic and desperation. Chiron and Hedge simply gave obscure looks at Nico’s question before looking back down at the papers in their hands.

Hour 10

Hazel sighed. She had been sighing all day. Every patient either had a benign tumour* or a condition of no interest to her. When was someone going to be seriously ill? They were surgeons for god's sake, not lab running rats! Both Hazel and Grover made their way to the next patients room, seriously disappointed. On entering the room, they both saw the family crowded round the patients bed, holding their hands together like there was a prayer commencing.

“You have a disorder called multinucleate cell angiohistiocytoma. It's not a cancer or a sarcoma, it's very rare but minor. You will be discharged today,” Hazel, slightly bored, attempted a smile. The family, still taking in the good news, were catatonic for around 5 seconds before all hell broke loose. There was crying, cheering, claps and laughs. Grover and Hazel both looked at each other with the same expression- Get me out of here .

“Wait wait, does this mean I don’t need surgery?” The patient ,still propped up by his elbows in his bed, inquired. Hazel simply nodded before getting pulled into a bear hug, against her will may I add, and practically almost suffocated to death. Her eyes widened as she stared into Grovers soul trying to get him to help her. Unfortunately for Hazel, Underwood was much more invested in watching her uncomfortable encounters.

Jason was sitting in a chair, letting it spin it around and round. The nurses station was quite empty with only the occasional nurse in and out. He stopped his spinning to bury his head in a very interesting chart that consisted of a case to do with a-

- Clink!

Nico set down the cooler on the desk with a loud sound that jolted Jasons’s head out of his head before letting his eyes land on the cooler. Jason, curious and wanting to engage in conversation with Nico began questioning the contents of the cooler. Nico who really did not want to tell Jason attempted to warn him

“Ooh, what’s in the cooler?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“No.” Jason got up from his seat and came to stand next to Nico, “ No, I do wanna know.”

Nico, who really wasn’t about to greatly resist, decided to tell Jason. Afterall, if it ruined Jason’s day as well, it would mean he wouldn't be the only miserable person moping about in the hospital.

“It’s a severed penis.” Nico shrugged quite nonchalantly as he gained amusement from the horrified expression slowly growing on Jason’s face. He watched as Jason's expressions contorted between fascination and disgust, trying to figure out which emotion to settle on. He wanted to prove Nico wrong but at the same time didn’t want Nico to not like him.

“I don’t think I wanted to know that.” Jason looked back down at his book, with a meek expression and his head slightly bowed as if he was praying. As Jason entered a world of truly unnecessary overthinking, Grover and Hazel came in arguing, what about, Jason did not know and in all honesty, after what Nico had told him- he did not want to know. Deciding he wanted to shift his discomfort to someone else, he looked to Hazel.

“Do you know Di Angelo is babysitting a penis in a jar?” he pointed towards the cooler sitting on the table top. Hazel, with piqued curiosity, quickly made her way over towards the cooler and opened the lid, taking a quick peek at the bitten off contents before shutting it.

“It’s a cooler, not a jar,” Nico whined slightly, not really directing his comment towards anyone.

“Talk about taking a bite out of crime,” Hazel commented as she picked something out of Nico’s hair. Nico didn’t really know whether to thank her or to resist the gesture. It felt weird- right? It was weird that Hazel was filling Bianca’s void. It was weird that Nico first thought about Hazel when people talked about his sister. It was weird that Nico was completely okay with this. He felt it was simply not right but at the same time, he didn’t want it to stop. Was he being unfaithful to Bianca? Was he betraying her? Or would she want him to move on from her, grow closer with his family who were actually lucid.

Jason watched Nico’s facial expressions with intensity- such intensity that had Nico not been stuck in a hole of problems, he a hundred percent would have noticed and even been creeped out by Jason’s intense stare. Despite only knowing Nico for around a month, he cared deeply about him. He wanted to know what was so concerning to him so much that he froze up and his eyes went all glazed like he was on autopilot. Nico was a closed off person who wore all black and covered up his secrets with wicked smiles and sarcastic quips but Jason could see the vulnerable child within Nico. He felt responsible for him and everything that happened to him.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jason asked tenderly, making Nico lift his head- effectively stopping him from daydreaming. For a second, when Nico lifted his head, Jason saw a glitter in Nico’s eyes that reminded him of innocence. Youth, life and calamity- instead of the empty, cold and lifeless onyx eyes that could give even Lucifer nightmares.

“The rape victim I had today, Allison, she had the same shoes as me. And ever since… It just doesn’t sit well with me, ya know? I never wear those boots normally because they’re so uncomfortable And it’s… stupid and I’m tired so nevermind, just leave it.” Nico batted his hand, dismissing the subject. Jason raised his eyebrows at the abrash statement and gesture before attempting Nico’s wicked smile.

“Do you know what you need?” Jason wiggled his eyebrows, letting the secret into the open like a breath of air. Immediately, Nico caught onto what Jason was talking about. He was offended and shocked that Jason had been doing it without him- This was their thing and Jason was doing it behind his back without him? The betrayal was heartbreaking. What next? Solace sleeping with someone else?

“No! It’s sick and twisted and we said last time was the last time,” Nico firmly said. He watched as Jason’s face contorted between guilt and excitement.

“You’ve been doing it without me?” Nico released. Jason shuffled his feet together nefor mumbling a ‘maybe’.

“Do you know what would happen if anyone knew?” Nico huffed out but Jason had made up his mind.

“I’m doing it- you can come with me or you can sit here and be miserable,” Jason confirmed as he dragged Nico by the white collar, which was considerably easy when you realised that Nico was an entire head shorter that Jason- and some would argue even more.

Nico and Jason had their faces pressed up onto the glass staring at the cute babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or as the doctors would simply call it- the NICU. Nico couldn't help the overwhelming smile that made his way onto his face as he stared at the cute babies as they attempted to talk, throwing their limbs about cluelessly. He listened to Jason who urged them with non-existent words and funky sounds that was considered the universal baby language. Nico looked at Jason- his platinum blonde hair and faintly light blue eyes reminded him to an extent of Will but at the same time- there was a clear difference. Will had faint freckles that decorated his face like a cake being decorated by icing sugar- whereas Jason had a pale complexion. Will’s hair was more of a golden blond and reminded of Nico of sunrise on a summer morning- hot, warm and some may even say beautiful and then there was his eyes-

- Why was he reciting this like he memorised it in the shower for fun?

Nico decided to put Wil- no, Solace out of his mind. He listened to the absolutely adorable sounds that Jason was making- he reminded him of Bianca when she used to babysit Estelle- Percy’s younger sister. Estelle was absolutely adorable and Nico considered her to be his younger sister as well, considering the amount of time she spent with the Di Angelo’s- especially during Percy’s med school and residency years when he was meant to be babysitting Estelle and had instead handed her to Nico and Bianca.

“You are such a softie,” Nico said, giggling slightly at Jason who was still cooing at the babies. For a couple of moments afterwards, Jason froze. Was Nico complimenting him? Or was it an insult? What on earth did the word ‘softie’ mean here? Did Nico like sofites? Or was ‘Softie’ Nico’s equivalent of ‘ absolute loser’? However, before Jason was able to come to any sort of conclusion, his pager beeped, signalling another Code Blue that he had to respond to.

“Ah shit, I’ve got a code to run, I’ll catch you later.” Jason waved before breaking into a jog and leaving. After Nico said his goodbyes to Jason he continued watching the babies for some more time. He was fascinated- how did humanity get from there to here. The babies were pure and new and hadn’t been exposed to the harsh realities of the world- how will they turn to what Nico has become? How did they get from Point A to point B? As Nico pondered over these philosophical thoughts, he carried watching the babies but something caught his eye. He could have sworn that baby he just saw went blue momentarily. It was crying and thrashing about but maybe Nico was only seeing things. He was tired, sleep deprived and if he had to be honest- this wouldn't have been the first time Nico saw things that weren’t actually there.

He watched it again, more intensely. With an analytical fine tooth comb. There- the baby turned blue again! So he wasn’t hallucinating! He rushed into the room, quickly taking out the chart of the baby and scanning his eyes over the info. He was aware that if he was caught, the consequences would not be great. That was probably the understatement of the year. After finishing with the chart, he set it down and took his stethoscope and started listening to the heart of the baby- something there wasn’t right, Nico could feel it. Nico did not often have such strong feelings but he had learnt that when they occurred, they were never wrong.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing here?” a doctor with pink scrubs walked in.

“There were no tests ordered and the baby has a heart murmur-” Nico began, taking the stethoscope out of his ears.

“-I know and you’re surgery, you are not authorised to be here. Do you know what could happen if you were caught?” The intern pressed on but Nico refused to step down here.

“Are you going to do any tests to confirm?” Nico asked, his tone clearly one of concern.

“It’s a benign systolic ejection murmur*. It will go away with age.”

“So you aren’t doing any tests.” Nico realised that he couldn’t win this in any way- well for now. He started to make his way towards the door before the intern decided to slam another attempt at a guilt tripping insult at him but in reality just made Nico doubt their abilities. He seriously felt bad for the Valdez resident if these were the meatheads he had to teach.

Hour 15

Frank felt betrayed. He had to say, he was never truly familiar with such a feeling. He had experienced the odd chance of it but in reality Frank was used to succeeding- in fact he had dedicated all his life to it. Many people saw him as soft, simple and easy to beat opponent but in reality that was one of his greatest strengths- people underestimated him until they met him. To an extent this had made Frank slightly arrogant- but he wouldn’t say it wasn’t necessary. The truth is, every surgeon has to be arrogant to believe that they can cut open another human and somehow fix them as if they were a god like deity but right now, Frank wasn’t thinking that he was arrogant, no. He was thinking that Chiron was being arrogant- believing that he was all so big and mighty and could just throw Frank about with his lies and schemes.

“Oh Chiron! So you asked Solace to come here?” Frank confronted, his hands resting on his hips.

“Yeah, Solace was an old student of mine...” Chiron trailed off, unaware of the purpose of the conversation.

“Oh so he left a private practise in Austin, Texas just because you asked?”

“Yes.”

“No other reason? Just a favour for an old professor,” Frank said with a hint of sarcasm lingering behind the words.

“It will be years before I retire,” Chiron began to reassure, understanding the nature of the conversation of the root of Frank's passive aggressive attitude.

“ Chief of surgery is mine, you told me so,” Frank reminded him.

“It was yours, now I'm not so sure.”

“I am the best surgeon here! I have the lowest mortality rate, you can’t just bring someone-”

“-Ask me why. Ask me why I'm not so sure of you," Chiron repeated, trying to get Frank to understand his motives. Chiron liked Frank, they had done a lot for each other. In fact, it had been Chrion who had helped Frank get over his low self- esteem, something that had bothered Frank for almost his entire life.

Frank, feeling defeated, almost stormed off. He knew he shouldn’t feel guilty but he couldn’t help letting a bit of it creep in as he remembered how somehow, he led Chiron, his mentor, to believe that his low self-esteem no longer existed. Maybe it was Chiron’s great desire to no longer see Frank suffer that made him see past it but Frank knew better. He wasn’t mad because the job may not be his, no- he had only wanted the job due to the benefits that came with it. Frank was mad because Chirom bringing in another ex-mentee of his simply brought his low self-esteem back all over again.

It was like med- school except this time, there were actual lives at stake. Did Chiron truly feel that he wasn’t good enough- that Solace would be a better Chief of Surgery better than Frank? He didn’t want to admit it, but Frank knew that he had become somewhat arrogant in an attempt to lie to himself and hide the lack of self esteem. The arrogance had only started when he was in residency but over the years, as he saved more lives, it accumulated. Yet, somehow, Frank still did not think it was good enough. Clearly Solace was. Why else would Chiron bring another threat to Frank’s anxiety if Chiron didn’t believe Frank's anxiety had gone? Surely Chiron wouldn’t do this knowing how badly it would hurt Frank.

Would he?

Hazel was bored. She knew it, Grover knew it and so did every nurse in a 1 metre radius of the stretcher that she sat in with the charts of her patients in a stack in front of her. This was New York Presbytarian! They were meant to have the best surgical residency in the country and here she was delivering lab results to over joyous patients- none of which had any sort of interesting condition. You’d think that someone in a hospital would be close to dying but no, it seemed that all of her patients were in ‘tip top’ condition.

“People need to get sick because I refuse to spend my residency doing this,” Hazel complained as she flipped the pages of the chart.

“Exactly. How can we be in the OR if people are just gonna live?” Grover agreed. They continued complaining, depressed about their current state. Hazel wanted to get this done and over with. The quicker she finished the job, the quicker she could get into a surgery. She took the 20 case files and separated them into 2 piles, each with 10 files.

“Here.” She handed one pile to Grover as she got up, “ You take 10, I take 10. We go in, we go out- no hugging, no laughing, no crying. Don’t be slow,” she instructed.

“Slow? If anything you’re the slow one,” Grover retorted as they made their way to the hallway.

“You wanna bet?” Hazel challenged, stopping a second to look at Grover. He mumbled a ‘You’re on’ before they both ran off, trying to finish first.

“You literally aren't letting anyone live with you!” The psychology resident complained. Nico turned on them.

“Favorite 80’s band?”

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“I’m still waiting.” he tapped his foot impatiently.

“I don’t know, the Bangles?” They shrugged cluelessly while Nico scoffed.

“Yeah, absolutely not.” Nico began walking away- he had to babysit a penis after all.

“Is there even a right answer?”

“AC/DC, The rolling stones, Guns N’ Roses,” Nico called out, not looking back, as he walked away.

“You will be free to leav- OOF!” Grover was cut off by an enormous bear hug from almost the entire family. He wanted to push them all away from him- after all, 3 families had hugged him so far and he had only visited 4 of the 10 patients he had. If he continued at this rate, Hazel was for sure to win.

“You have a cyst on your lymph node- but tests have confirmed that it was not cancerous which means you probably have some sort of infection- we will put you on broad range antibiotics before discharge tomorrow,” Hazel recited as she dodged a hug aiming for her resulting in 2 family members in an embrace. She quickly slipped out of the room without notice and smiling to herself- 5 down, 5 to go.

“Clear!” Jason called again, it had been 26 minutes into a code without any reaction to CPR, drugs or shocking. Jason knew what was coming next. He could feel it, like it was hanging over his shoulder waiting for his patients to walk into their arms. Death hung at the shoulder of every doctor as their guardian angel- something he remembered Nico saying. When he had said it, he didn't remember. He put his arm out, signalling the nurse to stop CPR. He took a shaky breath.

“Time of death, 15:45.”

Hour 20

Nico watched as the heart monitor stayed stable, reaching the apex before dropping and repeating. Allison. Attempted rape. Boots. Those were the words just floating around his head. Here she was on a vent, alone, like a vegetable and only hours ago she had been alive- smiling, talking, fighting.

“I've called every hospital in the country. Sooner or later the guy who did this is gonna seek medical attention and when he does, that penis you’re carrying around is gonna nail him,” a voice coming from behind Nico said. He turned his head slightly to see the golden curls that he had messed up this morning. Nico’s eyes were cast back onto the lonely woman. How could anyone so vulnerable be so alone?

“Where's her family?” The words slipped out of Nico’s mouth before he could stop them. Will shook his head slightly, his hair bouncing slightly from the impact.

“Doesn't have one.”

“No siblings?” Nico asked, thinking of Hazel and Bianca.

“Nope, both parents are dead. She moved to New York 3 weeks ago. Welcome to the city,” Will took a bite out of an apple miserably. Nico too was miserable- they both had good reason to do so. What kind of world did they live in where the system was so disadvantaged to anyone who wasn’t white, male, heterosexual and neurotypical? What kind of system forced minorities to work in society's most unwanted but vital jobs? What kind of system forced women to be terrified of walking home alone- day or night?

“Nico? Are you okay?” Will’s soft and concerned voice broke into Nicos thoughts. The question left him speechless- was he okay? The cynical, sarcastic and natural answer was No- obviously no. But for some reason, Nico did not want to say no, but rather leave his own pain to himself- not burden anyone else with it.

“Yeah.. I just gotta do something.” With that, Nico ran off looking for Dr Zhang.

Nico found Dr Zhang climbing the stairs. The hospital had a comfortable endless buzz, something that all the staff were used to- Frank was hoping to get a calm and perhaps even silent moment to himself. Instead, he got an intern.

“Dr Zhang, there’s this patient. It’s a baby in peds and they had a tetralogy spell with a heart murmur,” Nico started, his legs struggling to keep up.

“Did Ped’s ask for a consult?”

Nico stayed silent, partially because he didn’t want to feel guilty for lying and partially because he did not have a lie on him- not one that he could pull off at least.

“Di Angelo, you’re a bright kid but we can’t just walk in there without a Peds consult. It’s not like I’m the Chief of Surgery,” Frank said sympathetically as he walked off.

“Hehehee, you’reee hott,” the drunk slurred as they leaned slightly forward in a terrible attempt to flirt with Juniper. Juniper still stood in the Pit, it’s fluorescent lights giving her a headache- along with the noise levels and annoying patients. Slightly disgusted by the stench of alcohol on their breath, she pushed them back gently, making sure they didn’t flop onto the stretcher.

“You’re drunk,” she deadpanned as she prepared the sutures, “And you also need to hold still.”

Juniper was sick of the Pit, she was sick of the flourecsant lights that made her skin look like puke and most of all, she was sick of her patients; drunk and disorderly were the mass majority and since the morning, not one major casualty had come through those doors other than the rape case Nico had been assinged to.

“I know you! You’re that lady from the magazine with the red bikini..” they trailed off, their voice in a musing and questioning tone. Juniper had to physically stop herself from scoffing- It was a pink bikini. She didn’t hate her fans but sometimes people made it weird, especially drunk ones who enjoyed invading her personal space a tad too much.

“It was a pink bikini.”

The seats by the hospital doors were the perfect place (other than the vending machines) to hide from your residents- so naturally, Nico and Hazel were there, camping away during lunch. The penis in a box sat in the chair next to him as he nibbled at the rainbow sour gummy strips.

“Watcha doing?” Hazel asked as she made her way towards him.

“I’m sitting with my penis.”

“Which one?”

In response to this, Nico scrunched up his face in a sarcastic, sardonic smile that read No <3.

“I kissed McDreamy...in an elevator. I was having a bad day,” Nico started with his voice relatively quiet.

“So what do you do on your bad days, make out with McDreamy?”

“Yeah that and carrying around a severed penis just makes everything so shiny and happy,” He retorted in response to his sister.

“Jason said Allison was wearing your boots.”

“…. It's weird right? “

“It’s weird that you care so much. They’re boots and popular ones too- anyone could have them,” Hazel argued. Nico opened his mouth to respond but in that moment a bunch of frantic shouting cut them off. Behind them, right outside the hospital a man had pulled up. His skin was sickly pale, there was blood all over his legs and groin and he was struggling to move.

Nico looked at his facial features and did not expect for the man to look… well normal. For some reason, he had envisioned the man to look evil- to resemble hate itself but he just looked normal. That's when it hit Nico- rapists don’t look like rapists. They look like average people because that's what their best advantage is- the trusting nature of humanity. They don’t look evil because they need to fit in, to gain the trust of others and protect their reputation. They look normal because anybody could be a rapist- they don’t wear posters pointing it out and it’s not written on their foreheads. That's what they do best- hide.

Nico and the transport staff rushed the man in the gurney towards the operating room, their legs moving as fast as possible. The police were going to arrive soon but for now, he would have to be handcuffed to his bed. The rapist was found, Allison was alive, now what? There was no way they’d be able to re attach the penis and honestly, Nico did not want to- in his eyes, the rapist got exactly what he deserved

“Call reception and tell them we need security up here ASAP,” Nico ordered, finally taking charge. As the gurney was charged into the surgical department, Dr Chase caught on.

“What dya have Di Angelo?”

“Take a look for yourself.” He nodded towards the middle of the man's body, more specifically his groin. Annabeth quickly lifted up the drapes before letting them drop- here eyes widened and she looked at Nico with disbelief painted across her face.

“Page the Chief and Solace and tell them we’ve got the rapist,” she commanded as she took Nico’s position on the gurney and continued wheeling him to an OR.

The heart monitor was beeping steadily. The heart was moving- beating. Nico and Hazel, stood side by side watching Dr Chase performing surgery- unfortunately, they weren't assisting however they were still getting tested on their medical knowledge. The OR had it’s regular flicker of lights, the smell of antiseptics and the hues of blue across the room.

“I saw Allison, you can't believe the beating that she took and then you see this!” Nico whisper-shouted towards Hazel.

“It's like that old saying- you should see the other guy.” Hazel nodded.

“Why aren't we attempting to re-attach the severed penis?” Annabeth's stern but questioning voice cut through their conversation.

“Teeth tear not slice- you can only reattach when there's a clean cut. If she had sliced it off with a knife, perhaps then we could re-attach,” Hazel quickly recited.

“And the digestive juices didn't leave a lot of the flesh to work with,” Nico added on.

“So what are we doing?” Dr Chase asked, a hint of boredom lingering in her voice.

“Sewing him up minus a large part of the family jewels,” Nico snorted slightly.

“What will his outlook be?” Dr Chase asked while holding her hand out for the nurse to take the instrument out of her hand.

“He will be urinating out of a bag for a very very very long time,” Hazel said, slightly pleased.

“Not to mention he will never be able to have sex again,” Nico said, not in least bit sympathetic.

“Oh too bad, what a shame,” Hazel drawled.

“Let's all take a moment to grieve,” Annabeth said sarcastically before immediately asking for a clamp.

Hour 25

“Chief!” Frank jogged, trying to catch up with Chiron while waving frantically. He had taken time off and realised if he wanted this, he had to think about everyone- not just himself. He needed to learn his faults and how to get over them.

“Frank.” Chiron nodded, “Do you need something?”

“Why can’t I be chief? You helped me before, you believed in me, what changed?”

“You really want to know?” Chiron sighed looking at Frank who nodded. “You’re too comfortable in your job. You never go the extra step. Your arrogance isn’t impressive- if you want to be chief Frank, you have to earn it.”

The words knocked Frank back- My arrogance isn’t impressive? If I recall correctly, you told me to be more arrogant and now it’s a problem? You tell someone to do something and then you tell them to do the exact opposite. What in the name of Pluto is his problem?

The interns were all pretty different but they could agree that they hated their job. They were sitting on the stretchers by the vending machine (which at this point had become their hangout away from the attendings) and were complaining- which apparently makes up 80% of all human conversations.

“My head hurtss,” Grover groaned, throwing backwards against the wall.

“Maybe you have a brain tumor,” Hazel said after sipping some coffee.

“No, you want me to have a tumor.”

“I'd personally rip your face off if it meant I got to scrub in,” Hazel confessed, not feeling guilty in the slightest. Juniper made her way from the vending machine, holding a snickers bar like her life depended on it.

“I've been suturing all day, my hands are numb and I'm regretting not taking foregin languages in high school,” she sighed as she plopped her bottom onto the stretcher, leaving space for Nico and Jason.

“At least you’re helping people,” Jason called as he put his hand up the vending machine in an attempt to retrieve his chips which had decided to not obey the laws of physics and get stuck. Nico who stood behind him shuffled Jason out the way, gave the vending machine a violent kick before the packet of chips fell out, directly into Jason's hands- that was until Nico literally stole them from him.

“At least you get to practise freakin medicine!” Grover called out, sick of delivering lab results to patients.

“Mrs Lu, the chinese lady, I had to send her away. I mean I stiched her up but she stayed camping in the Pit- she left in the end though,” Juni said in a defeated tone.

“The police can't send some crime person down so I have to spend the night with a penis,” Nico complained before looking over to Grover, “ Grover don’t make the joke.”

Grover tutted, “It was too easy anyway.”

Finally, Jason cut in the conversation. They were all sick of being used and not actually learning. Gosh, did the hospital not realise that they were also doctors- not useless med students who couldn’t find their heads from their ass!

“Who here has no idea what they’re doing?” Jason cried. Everyone, except Grover, shot their hands up. Nico was not ashamed to admit he did not know what he was meant to be doing- saving lives or babysitting penises?

“Are we meant to be learning something? Because I don’t think I'm learning anything!” Jason added as he slumped further in the stretcher that they were all sharing.

“Except how not to sleep,” Juniper retorted.

“It's like there’s this wall and the attendings and the residents are over there being surgeons and were over here being-” Hazel started passionately but was cut off by her brother.

“- Suturing, code running, lab delivering penis minders,” Nico finished.

“I hate being an intern,” Grover concluded. Nico seated beside him grunted in agreement. The interns continued their mindless complaints until Dr Chase walked in, her expression stern and her arms resting on her hips in a manner that screamed And what exactly do you think you’re doing? All it took was a raised eyebrow from Dr Chase and the interns were scrambling off the stretcher and rushing off back to their jobs. She snatched the unopened pack of chips that Nico had left on the stretcher and helped herself.

Nico often made very bad decisions. It was something the people around simply expected of him at this point- if it wasn’t Bianca then it was Hazel or Percy (but normally Percy would also join in on the bad decisions). Despite being warned not to, Nico found himself staring at the baby from the NICU earlier. As Nico looked up slightly, he saw 2 people cooing towards a baby and Nico could only assume that they were the parents. He could feel the dumb and stupid thoughts brewing and bubblinmg in his mind. He tried to stop them, he tried to tell himself to not move towards them but he couldn’t help himself- he never could in all honesty. While Nico was a very patient person sometimes, some impulses just couldn’t be left on stand-by.

As Nico finished explaining to the parents what he believed to be wrong with the child, the intern in pink scrubs from earlier who had specifically told Nico to leave walked into the communal area. Nico was absolutely busted- car lights on, bambi style busted.

“I warned you to not come back here,” They snarled before beheading into another room and practically grabbing Leo Valdez by the arm. Leo slowly retracted his arm out of their grasp before dusting it lightly.

“Hi, can I help you?” Leo started, his lips parted in a gorgeous and genuine grin- something that even Nico had to admit was cute.

“If our baby is sick, we want him treated,” The parents started, their voices thick with worry and concern. Nico could practically hear the tremble in it.

“Of course, which child is yours?” Leo asked with his professionalist front- he’d have to deal with the interns later.

Frank hated the interns. He hated Chiron and he hated his life. Not necessarily in that order. He was used to the incompetence of the interns. He was used to them making mistakes or hesitating but the one thing he wasn’t used to was pure disobedience. He had directly told Di Angelo to not approach peds or any of their cases. So what exactly Di Angelo was doing with Valdez and his intern talking to a pair of seemingly very concerned parents, Frank honestly did not know and would have liked to have kept it that way.

“Dr Valdez, can we speak for a second?” Frank asked. He and Leo were good friends, he knew that Leo wouldn’t get offended or turn it into a scandal.

“Sure, I’d like to know what on earth is going on though. No offence, but your intern shouldn’t be here,” Leo started, his hand brushing his curls out of his face.

“I told you earlier to not come back and look who’s here!” The intern snarked in Nico’s face.

“The baby had a tetralogy spell* earlier and a heart murmur- they aren't consistent with a benign systolic ejection murmur!” Nico argued. Frank turned to the intern, he could already see them faltering. He wouldn’t call himself scary- it was mainly just him being tall and built like a marine, not that he really cared.

“How sure are you? How sure are you that it is a benign systolic ejection murmur? 100 percent sure?” Frank turned to the intern. He watched as their face twisted, like they had just realised that they had been a fly trapped in a spider's web.

“Are you 100 percent sure about the diagnosis?” Leo turned towards his resident, a look of hesitation and slight horror creeping up onto his face. His previous interns from the past 2 years were so much easier than this. Everyone listened to him, barely anyone died and there weren’t sneaky, semi- famous italian legacies sneaking into his department. Not that he blamed Nico, in fact he had to admit that he was secretly impressed with the doctors observation skills- especially considering he was an intern. But after all, he was a Di Angelo.

“I dunno...like 75 percent..” They mumbled towards the floor. Gods, if his intern was wrong, it would be on his ass! How on earth was he about to mess up so badly? This was his 3rd year in residency- he couldn’t afford to screw up.

“Can I see the patient's chart?” Dr Zhang held his hand out towards the intern who hastily handed it over- as if it was a ticking time bomb. Dr Zhang flipped through a few pages, pretending to read them. In reality, he had already made up his mind and was just humming the tune to Stayin alive .

“Valdez, the patient's on my service now. That chill with you?” Frank concluded. Leo gave a thumbs up, slightly relieved to have some sort of work off his back but also slightly saddened that an interesting case was snatched out of his hands by his ignorant intern.

“I want an EKG*, chest X- ray and an Echo*, let's make it quick, we don't have all day,” Frank told Nico, who nodded before quickly running off.

“He can do that?” They whispered into Leo’s ear with an astonished tone.

“Yeah, he's attending.”

“So is your girlfriend.”

“She is not my girlfriend!” Leo protested as the intern raised an eyebrow. Leo did not have a strong case here, considering Calypso was always seen with him or vice Versa. In fact, they often arrived and left the hospital together, worked on similar cases and they knew each other's coffee orders like the back of their hand. It wasn’t like anything could happen between them. In reality, they arrived and left together due to their apartments being in a close proximity, they had similar cases co-incidentally due to their specialties and well, the coffee orders… Well that was hard to explain- how would Leo say Oh yeah, I just watch her everytime she orders her coffee because her lips look very very nice and soft and when she takes a sip, her eyes flutter a bit and it makes her eyes look magical and then there’s when she’s getting mad at me because I’m taking ages to leave my apartment and she just looks like she’s about to implode but in a very sexy, cute and beautiful way.

Yeah, no way was he saying any of that.

Hour 30

Was there anything left to do? Juni had been here for so long she could practically feel the fluorescent lights in her head. The Pit was empty, the blue stretchers all cleaned up with no patients walking in. There was officially nothing to do- empty emergency and waiting room. For the sake of checking, Juni walked into the waiting room one more time, looking around for any injured souls- alas, there were none.

Except Mrs Lu, who stood in the middle of the hallway, waving her hand towards Juni as if she was gesturing for her to follow her. Juni looked around- it wasn't as if there were any patients here, what could go wrong? She tiptoed outside into the brutal thundering of the rain, which plastered her hair to her face and her white coat to her scrubs. The wind was chilly and strong- whispering to her temptations and desires. The wind was always so ethereal- it could destroy but it could also be beautiful.

“Mrs Lu? Where are you taking me?” Juniper called out as she jogged blind in the dark while the wind whipped around her face. She found herself crouching behind the large industrial hospital bins. A young girl, barely into her early 20s sat there with a large bloody wound across her forehead. On viewing it, Juniper immediately hissed. The gash looked deep and Juni could already see the edges of it forming a scab. There was blood stuck to her face, some infiltrating the tip of her eyelids and the girl herself was trying to not screw her eyes in pain.

“Oh my gods…What.. What happened?” Juni was speechless.

“A big machine in the factory.. it .. it fall on us,” the girl explained. Juniper was relieved- she knew a bit of english, enough for Juniper to understand.

“It’s going to be okay now, you can come inside an-”

“-No! No, no inside. Here!” The girl protested frantically, shaking her head back and forth which made Juniper think Ouch .

“But, I need to stitch you up and she went inside.” Juniper pointed to Mrs Lu.

“She allowed, me not allowed! I will go jail!”

Juniper realised what she was trying to tell her. Mrs Lu was a legal immigrant but the girl was an illegal one. An overwhelming amount of sympathy and admiration surged inside of Juniper. The amount of bravery this poor girl must have and all the stuff she must have gone through. Juniper knew that if she helped the girl and was caught- everything would be over. A small voice in her head was telling her to help- she was doctor after all, she took the hippocratic oath which stated I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required

“The injury is deep but I think I can fix it. I need to go and get some stuff first so you have to stay here okay. Stay here.”

The girl nodded, the corner of her lips turning into a grateful smile, “Thank you.”

As Juniper was about to jog back to the hospital, she remembered she did not have one piece of information that she got from every patient- illegal or not.

“One question, what’s your name? I’m Juni,” She asked.

“Nuwa. Nuwa Lu,” the girl responded with comfort settling onto her face.

Nico didn’t like that he was short. He constantly had to push to the front of crowds, people were often belittling and it also meant he had to walk twice as fast to catch up with people who were like 6’4- Like Dr Zhang. He was not afraid to admit that he was short- he simply didn’t like that for some reason it was a bad thing; if anything, it meant he was an eco-friendly version of a human.

“Dr Zhang,” Nico sounded slightly out of breath, “ What’s the diagnosis?”

“It was the tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia*. I’m booking an OR,” he confirmed.

Nico stopped walking as Frank stood by the elevator. Normally, Nico preffered to simply nod at people when they expected a thank you. It was just 2 words that he would never expect to come blurting his mouth and honestly he did not expect the words Thank you to come out when he spoke to Dr Zhang so of course, he did not say thank you. Yes, he was grateful but Thank you? To Nico, that was almost as close to I love you on the list of forbidden words.

“I appreciate you backing me up here-”

“-Nuh uh. Listen kid, you were right one time but what you did, going behind another doctor's back and speaking to the parents, trying to steal a patient from another service. Don’t ever pull that again, you got it?” Dr Zhang reprimanded him. He knew that Di Angelo had a lot of potential but if he was gonna think with his head in his ass all the time, there were going to be problems

Nico knew this was Dr Zhang's version of- you did good but also you did bad. In all honesty, Nico couldn’t care less. In fact, he was so smugly obsessed that he was right that he was very much beyond okay with being told off if it meant he was right, it was worth it. Especially since that smug little intern thought that they were so right in their gloriously pathetic little mind.

Will did not like feeling like this. He had been lucky to avoid it all his life but for some god forsaken reason, depression had started to chase him. So he took a job where he would have no time for depression- if you’re working 24/7 you don't really ever get the chance to listen to your thoughts. But as he sat down at the desk by Allison trying to focus on his charting, he could feel himself slowly losing all motivation. The beeping on the heart monitor, which normally drew a large smile across Will’s face, wasn’t helpful- it was depressing. The entire room felt bland, empty and he could feel his mind and thoughts going numb. He was trying to hold his head up, trying to be strong for his patient, trying to finish the day without having a slump. His eyes flickered back up towards Allison, whose eyes had remained closed- as if she was vegetable.

“Okay, you’re all sewn up!” Juni finished up the last touches of the stitches of Nuwa’s forehead before rolling back the squeaky old chair that she was sitting on.

“Nuwa, you might have a scar and you have to come back in 5 days okay? I need to take out the stitches and clean the wound to make sure it doesn’t get infected. So you need to come back. We will meet here, same place at 7pm. 5 days okay?” Juniper informed, trying to not rush her words all out in a panic. She watched as Nuwa gave a small nod with a shy smile indicating she understood. As Juniper packed up, she realised she had to remind Nuwa of something else.

“Oh but you can’t tell anybody that I helped you outside the hospital. I might lose my medical license and my job. Do you understand?”

“Come back in 5 days and dont tell.” Nuwa nodded eagerly towards Juni who gave her a brief hug.

“Dr Chase, do you think I’m too confident?” Dr Zhang anxiously asked. He didn’t think he’d ever have to ask such a question. To him, it seemed obvious- no. Frank recalled all his life, simply never having the confidence to do things and sure, he had boosted it up a slight notch by becoming a surgeon- a world renowned one none the less- but he wouldn’t call himself overconfident.

“No,” Annabeth answered bluntly but Zhang knew her better than she thought he did.

“Don’t lie,” Frank mumbled slightly.

“You are my boss,” Annabeth retorted. Anyone who had been nearby would have immediately snorted at such a comment- When did Annabeth Chase actually care about her bosses opinions?

“Fine, in the next 30 seconds anything you say, I will not take to heart, starting now.” Frank raised his watch before diverting his eyes to his resident who immediately started talking.

A bit eager, Chase?

“I think you’re cocky, arrogant, bossy and pushy. You also have a god complex,” Annabeth started which caused Frank to frown. God Complex? Since when?

“You never think about anybody but your damn self- “

“- Hey wait a-”

“-I have another 22 seconds and I am not done.”

Frank scratched his head while rethinking his life decisions. The most prominent thought at hand was-

Oh shit maybe this wasn't a great idea

The interns were serving their last hour on call and it had gotten to the point where they were all desperate for their lives at work to come to an end. Jason, Juniper and Hazel were all in the locker room, freshening up and looking forward to leaving the hospital.

“I need a drink, a man or a massage or a drunken massage by a man,” Hazel mused. A short ‘ew’ came from Juniper as she brushed through her knotty hair. Jason on the other hand, did not respond and instead was violently harassing his teeth with his toothbrush. Hazel took one short glance at Jason before an alarmed look creeped onto her face.

“What's wrong with you?” She asked, slipping on a new scrub shirt.

“I lost 5 patients today and I feel like the angel of death,” he spat his toothpaste out, as if he had a deep vendetta against it.

“Hey at least you're not the actual angel of death. I’m pretty sure there’s a serial killer with that alias,” Hazel responded thinking about her conversation with Nico. For some reason The angel of death reminded her of some conversation they’d had.

“Charles Cullen- convicted of 40 murders, suspected of more- currently in prison on life sentence and is 60 years old,” Nico recited as he walked into the locker room. Juniper and Jason both stopped dead in their tracks, slightly alarmed at the information that was spilling out of Nico’s mouth like he memorized it for fun.

The best part was he actually did memorise it for fun.

Casting her eyes away from her brother, who in no way surprised her with that information, Hazel sighed, “Jason, 95% of code patients can't be revived. Most are already dead by the time you get there.”

“What! Why didn't you tell me that when I was going on and on about how great it was gonna be!” Jason cried, embarrassed about his bragging. Hazel took a deep breath as she made her way to exit the room.

“Because, you’re Jason and I’m Hazel.”

Hour 40

Nico was getting really sick about the penis in a box. It literally had to follow him everywhere and worst of all, people asked him what was inside it. What kind of conversation starter was ‘oh, just a bitten off penis’? So when Nico saw Dr Solace still in the room of Allison he felt slightly relieved- at least Dr Solace wouldn’t ask him what was in the box; mainly because Dr Solace was in the surgery where the penis was retrieved.

As Nico approached Dr Solace, he noticed that he wasn't really there. His eyes seemed less alive, less sparkly and more like the dull blue hues of the hospital. It was just something about the way his hand had propped up his face as if he had no further energy to continue anything that made Nico slightly alarmed for him.

Alarmed? You’re just worried that he may pass out because then it would mean no more surgeries.

At least, that's what Nico told himself. Besides, he had other things to worry about- like how he was going to lead Solace on. Afterall, there was a reason he was putting up with him.

“Hey, how’s Allison?” Nico asked, standing directly behind Will. Will, depressed as ever responded in a small tone.

“So far, nothing’s changed.”

“Have you been here all night?” Nico asked in slight astonishment and borderline concern.

“Yep. I have 3 brothers and a sister. They’re all doctors as well. If I was in a coma, they’d all be here- I’d want them here because having nobody… I can’t imagine that.”

“I can.”

Nico hadn’t meant for the small comment to slip out of his mouth. Wills face scrunched up immediately as he turned his head to look at the intern.

“What are you on about? What about your sister?”

For a fraction of a second, Nico was horrified at the thought that somehow Will had figured out that Hazel and Nico were siblings. But then Nico remembered that Hazel levesque was not an infamous name within the world of doctors and Bianca Di Angelo was.The first person to come to mind was Hazel, not Bianca. The guilt was overwhelming- did this mean Nico was forgetting his sister? He couldn’t do that, not when she needed him! Hazel was just a girl who happened to make sarcastic quips like him, who just happened to stand up for him, who happened to be slightly related to him. So what? Did it make them family? No! In Nico’s eyes, they weren’t even siblings. Just 2 people who had to get on with each other for the sake of others around them, Bianca was his real sister.

“That’s true, I do have my sister,” Nico said but even as the words left his lips, he knew he wasn’t talking about Bianca.

“She’d be ordering surgeons around and flying cowboys* from Prague to do amazing medical procedures,” Will continued as he got up to throw a wrapper in the bin. When he returned, he leaned against the door frame slightly, as if he was a bad boy in one of those high school cliche films.

“So we’re kissing but we’re not dating, huh?” One of his eyebrows raised slightly resulting in a ridiculous face that Nico believed to be hilarious- not that he’d ever let Solace know that he thought that. Nico fell back into scheming mode- if the conversation was heading where he thought it was, he needed to have his manipulative little plan out and ready.

“I’m all for the kissing. In fact, there should be more kissing,” Will hummed.

“I don’t know how or why it happened,” Nico admitted.

“Is it gonna happen again?” Will asked before lowering his voice, “ I need to bring some breath mints. Put some condoms in my wallet.” Will winked and Nico could physically feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. He had never blushed this badly in his entire life- not even when Percy winked at him.

Abort! Abort! This was not part of the plan. Why are you blushing you incompetent good for nothing nincompoop!

“There’s this baby upstairs in peds. It’s new and not neglected. It hasn’t been disappointed by anyone or rejected. How do we get from there to here? Alisson is wearing my boots and someone has beaten the crap out of her and here she is with nobody.” Nico was practically counting down the minutes left before he could leave at this point. However, before Will could respond, a rapid beeping came from one of the machines hooked up to Allison. Will scurried forward in a panic.

“Her ICP* has doubled. Page Jackson and get an OR ready- tell them to prep for a craniotomy*. Hang a mannitol and take a blood gas*!” Will shouted over the frantic beeping of the machine.

Nico was pacing back and forth. He felt like he was Allison’s mother. There she was in surgery all by herself and he- someone who had never met her- was pacing back and forth like they had known each other their entire lives. His head practically shot up as he saw Will and Percy come through the doors he had been waiting in front of. Solace shot him a sympathetic smile as he walked past- Percy on the other hand had stayed in front of Nico and his expressions looked grave.

How was Percy meant to say this? This was his childhood best friend of his entire life and he was somehow meant to tell him that his patient was most likely now a vegetable. He didn’t know why it was going to be so hard- Nico was someone who knew how to take news. Sure, Nico never took it well and would often just isolate himself until someone forcefully dragged his butt out but he would never break down. Well, Percy had never thought he had.

“I had to leave a flap of her skull open until the pressure and swelling in her brain goes down,” Percy confessed nervously, ruffling his messy hair that had been matted down under his scrub cap.

In a pained voice, Nico whispered, “She isn’t gonna make it.”

Percy hadn’t heard Nico use such a voice since his mother had passed away. Nico had been a bit different after that- as one would expect- but the tone that he had adapted when the tragedy occurred was a tone that truly inspired fear in Percy. It was the voice of calamity combined with pain. It was like destruction without the anger, it was like love without the trust, it was like a human with no soul. It was heart wrenching.

“She’ll be fine,” Percy insisted as he pulled Nico into a hug, letting the shorter boy rest his head on his shoulder. Nico wondered if Percy was right. He liked the possibility, the chance that it was true.

But Nico realised that she’d only be alright if she ever woke up.

Nico and never been happier to sign off the custody of something away from himself. Finally, the penis he had been carrying around owud no longer be his possession- he already had a dick, thank you very much. Just ask Solace.

Will and Percy did not really interact with each other much. It wasn't anything personal but they just both run such busy departments that hanging out was something much easier said rather than done. Despite this, they were together as they stormed into the room of 312. Percy and Will were not violent people- they were surgeons, doctors, sworn under the hippocratic oath to do no harm. But it would be an understatement of the year if one were to say that they did not look like terrifying bloodthirsty hungry beasts as they slammed the light on and snarled as they walked into the room of the rapist.

Will slammed his hand onto the side of the stretcher. Once, twice and a third time. It startled the man in bed to jump awake. Threateningly, Will slammed his hand above the man in the stretcher so he was practically leaning over him while Percy stood on the other side with both hands resting on the other handle of the bed.

“We have good and bad news. The good news is that my unbiased girlfriend who is also an exceptional surgeon managed to stop you from bleeding to death,” Percy snarled.

“The bad news is we’ve given your penis to the cops. Have a nice life,” Will growled as both men left the room with Will slamming the door so hard, the hinges rattled.

Nico enjoyed watching the babies. He however, did not enjoy watching the babies with Jason, Juniper and Hazel. Watching a cooing to babies was a very private matter- if word ever got out to his attendings that this happened… well Dr Zhang had already warned him. As he watched them, he realised they get the chance to start afresh. They may have no knowledge but they give people the chance to start afresh, to be something else and change opinions.

“All right, you guys can move in,”Nico groaned, giving up. Jason and Juniper squealed, jumping up and down celebrating.

“I can't believe I caved,” Nico admitted.

Hazel snorted, “I blame the babies.”

Hour 48

The world felt groggy as her eyelids fluttered. This wasn't her cheap New York hotel room, the lights wouldn't be on. She wanted to breathe but she couldn't do it alone-she could feel something obstructing her throat. It felt like something had been forced down there and immediately memories had come flooding back. The rapist, how she had been forced to her knees, the beating. She realised this must be the hospital and if she could think and her eyes were open, then she must be alive. She watched as a doctor with curly blond hair looked at her with astonishment before grabbing the arm of another doctor- with sea green eyes and a mop of balck hair on his head.

The elevator always took ages to arrive and always took even longer to get you to the floor you wanted. Will did not mind this. Nico on the other hand, definitely minded this. He had beds to sleep in and mythomagic cards to nerd out with.

“It's intense, this thing I have for ferry boats again,” Wills voice cut straight through Nico’s thoughts. Nico turned his head to look at the source of the voice.

Of course it's you

Nico knew what would happen if they climbed the empty elevator and he was tired. Part of his plan was revived around Will Solace pinning after him and this was the perfect chance to start it.

“I’m soo taking the stairs this time,” Nico decided.

“You have no self control!” Will called out knowing Nico’s reason for not boarding the elevator, “ It’s sad really!”

Hour 49

“Hey Reyna, pass the coat next to you,” Percy asked as he grabbed his bag off the floor and kissed Annabeth on her head. Reyna tossed the coat towards Percy before grabbing her backpack and zipping up her jacket. The attendings and residents filtered out slowly, one by one leaving Leo in there by himself. Leo didn’t mind being alone. In fact, he enjoyed it. There was something about being able to hum songs while you worked with no distractions that simply appealed to him. He was currently humming a song his Tia Callida had taught him when he was little.

“Are you humming?” A voice came from behind him. Normally, Leo would have ignored the voice or made a snarky remark but he recognised this voice.

“What! Uh, no?” He shrugged sheepishly as he turned around to look at Calypso who had her eyes half closed as if she was enjoying the tune.

“Oh don’t try lying to me Leonidas . I liked it anyway,” she admitted as she leaned forward to access the coffee machine. Calypso was the only person who knew Leo’s full name and the only person he’d ever let get away with calling him that. Leo could feel a rush of butterflies from Calypso's compliment. While it seemed minor, Leo rarely got compliments- so he appreciated them but he also did not know how to properly take one without blubbering.

“What are you still doing here?” Leo asked.

“Hoping to get rid of me I see?”

“No! No, it’s just we came in at the same time and your shift is over so you’re probably tired so you should probably go home and relax,” Leo rambled.

“You also came in at the same time you know. You shouldn't be here as well.”

That shut Leo up. He sat himself on the sofa, not wanting to move. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t tired and sleep sounded so nice right now but he did not want to go home. Every time he went back to his apartment, the nightmares would come rushing back and he would wake up covered in sweat. It was like he was cursed.

“Are you okay?” Calypso’s voice sounded concerned.

“I should be asking you that mi amor.” Leo winked before mentally slapping himself. Why on earth did he call her that? Everyone knows that mi amor means my love- it's practically common knowledge!

“You aren’t going to sweet talk your way out of my question Leonidas.” Calypso’s eyes narrowed slightly as she sat on the sofa next to Leo. He sat with one leg slightly bent on the sofa and the other dangling off it whereas Calypso had both her legs crossed as if she was back in nursery.

“I’m tired Callie. Aren’t you?”

“We’re surgeons. It’s what we signed up for. And I’ve seen you tired before Valdez, you aren’t like this.”

“Like this?”

“So… distant. You’ve barely gone on any rants or tangents since forever. You only order black coffee or an almost suicidal amount of espresso now. Everytime you smile, you only do it because someone just approaches you, otherwise your face is unreadable or miserable!” Calypso cried, throwing one of her arms up.

“Just because I’m less talkative Callie doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. I need to coffee to stay awake,” Leo defended himself calmly, holding both of Calypso’s hands to help keep her from exploding.

“What is keeping you up that you need so much caffeine? Is it work, family… a partner?” Calypso’ face physically scrunched up at the idea of Leo losing sleep over doing the deed with another person.

“I...I’m just not getting as much sleep as I should be getting. You know how tough work can be on residents especially because I’m looking for a peds fellowship,” Leo lied through his teeth. He could feel the empty pit of anxiety inside of him calm slightly as he saw the stressed out facial features of Calypso relax. While he felt guilty for lying, he felt better that it wasn’t stressing her out so much. It was only then that he noticed how close their bodies were. They weren’t extremely close but they weren't exactly far away either.

“I've got to tell you about this couple I had today. So the mother is all excited because she wants a boy and the dad is really really excited because he wanted a girl and they’re both arguing back and forth about which one the baby will be. So I do the ultrasound and guess what!”

“What?” Leo asked, practically smitten with her features. The way her eyes widened with glee as she talked about her patients, or how her smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her cheeks had these dimples that would appear every time she spoke but when she smiled, the ones under her eyes would show up and it was always endgame for him then. Her eyes were like pools of honey- sweet, delicate and magical. There was just something about the way her curly hair would always be in a tropical hairstyle as if she was on a beach that made him want to kiss her.

“They had twins! Yeah, so it was a case of twin to twin transfusion syndrome* and one was a boy and the other a girl. So in the end they both got what they wanted and I got myself a very very interesting case!”

Leo chuckled as he watched her rant. As they fell into conversation about their patients, they got closer and closer until they both had their arms leaning on the sofa and were gazing at each other's faces. Calypso’s eyes drifted downwards towards Leo’s rolled up sleeves- as they always did. As her eyes traveled upwards, she spotted something by Leo’s collarbone- like a flick of ink. She didn’t know if she read it right but it looked like it said Bad Boy Supreme with a small fire around it.

“Is that.. Is that a tattoo?” Calypso asked, her hand reaching forward to pull at his shirt slightly to gain a better view. Caught slightly off guard, Leo froze before remembering that he did in fact have a tattoo. He unbuttoned the first 3 buttons to give her a better view.

“Leonidas… did you actually… oh my gods.” Her hand had accidentally pressed on Leo’s chest which was surprisingly muscle. Leo looked scrawny, wasn’t the tallest (still taller than Nico) and didn’t hang out with any other people beside his colleagues so Calypso was not expecting a firm plate of muscle to be directly underneath her palm.

“Yep. You said I should get Bad Boy Supreme tattooed, so I did,” he said rather shakily. Could you blame him though? You try talking normally while the girl you’re in love with touches your chest and has her face up so close against it you could feel her breath.

“I did not think you had it in you,” she confessed, her face still close to his chest with her finger now tracing the art.

“ Mamacita , I’m offended,” he huffed jokingly. She raised her head slightly to raise an eyebrow only to be slightly alarmed at how close they were. If she moved one millimeter upwards, their lips would touch. Her hand was warm on his chest and she could feel his heart beating slightly faster as she traced the words of his tattoo. Her other hand was in his hair- the luxurious chocolate curls which obstructed his face bothered her- she wanted to see his eyes. She pushed them back ever so slightly. She was so close to his face, she could see the different shades of brown that pooled in his eyes- in a sort of chaotic manner that made his eyes look majestic. She couldn't help but stare into them and draw herself close to him- his eyes were honey and she was a bee. She dared to move her head slightly higher so that their eyes locked. They knew what each other were thinking. They could feel each other's thoughts.

Leo kept his gaze on Calypso’s eyes which had darted down to his lips. She watched as he swallowed and his lips parted softly. She raised her head and moved slightly forward and they could each other breath dancing on their lips. Their lips brushed, like a painter's first stroke on a canvas. They were slow, not desperate- it was like they had all the time in the world. Their lips were barely touching like butterfly wings. Leo could feel her warmth and inhale the coffee on her breath. Just as they were about to truly kiss, Leo’s pager started beeping making them both scramble backwards away from each other.

Without another word, Leo got up and left the room.

All the things that have a little * by it will have definitions down here! Code team: The team on call who are required to respond to a code blue which is when someone's heart has stopped GCS: Stands for the Glasgow Coma Scale. It measures a person's level of consciousness after a brain injury- it measures the function of the eyes, body and speech. BP: Is an abbreviation for the 'blood pressure'. Ventilator: Is a machine that essentially provides air for your body when you cannot do it yourself- often patients who suffer extreme injuries will be put on a ventilator. BA: Stands for bachelor of Arts which is an undergraduate degree- please keep in mind that it's not a literal degree in art, it's just called that. PHD: Stands for Doctor of Philosophy. Once again, this isn't a literal doctorate degree in Philosophy. MD: Stands for Doctor of Medicine- now this is a degree that is literally in medicine. Asystole Pulse: In the most basic way I could put it, flatlining. That means that the heart has completely stopped. Benign tumour: If a tumour is benign, it is harmless or not posing any threat to the body. Benign systolic ejection murmurs: Is normally a harmless condition where the heart makes a murmur because something is obstructing the valves in the heart. Tetralogy spell: When there is a quick drop in oxygen in the body and it makes the skin appear blue. EKG: Stands for electrocardiogram which is when those wires are stuck to your chest so that they can measure your heart's electrical signals. An EKG can also be called an ECG. Echo: An 'echo' is an abbreviation of echocardiogram- not to be confused with electrocardiogram. An echocardiogram is basically an ultrasound of the heart. Fallot of tetralogy with pulmonary atresia: This is a very complicated condition but essentially, it's the result of the 5 defects that this condition causes in the heart. Cowboy doctor: Is a doctor who is so definite in their diagnosis, they refuse to consider any other options. ICP: Stands for intracranial pressure which is just the pressure in your brain. Craniotomy: Not to get confused with a craniectomy, a craniotomy is when a piece of skull is removed temporarily to expose the brain. Mannitol: Mannitol is a sugar alcohol that can be used to decrease the intracranial pressure. TTS: Also known as Twin to Twin transfusion syndrome is a rare condition where twins in the womb share the same placenta- the result of this is one child getting more oxygen and nutrients than the other.

22 notes · View notes

tessathaitea · 3 years

Text

New Year’s Eve

Great, it was New Year’s Eve. Don’t get Percy wrong, it was a great holiday. But the day also marked the day that he would never forget, or forgive himself for. Last year, Mrs. O’Leary had passed away to save him and some new demigods from a vicious hoard of monsters. Oh, yeah, it was also the day that Percy and Annabeth had broken up (but that wasn’t really a bad thing. The spark had just died).

Camp Half-Blood was having a celebration to start the new year, with a very own ball drop of their own, courtesy of Cabin 9.

So, the demigods were having a party that started at eleven. But, for some odd reason, Annabeth was coming over to ‘make sure he came’. Like seriously, what was he going to do? Skip out on the ball drop and get killed by Harley and Leo? No thanks.

“Let’s go, Seaweed Brain,” came Annabeth’s voice. She stood by the door, grey eyes boring into Percy’s head. “Don’t drink anything. Alice and her sister heavily spiked everyone’s drinks. People know, but they don’t really care. They’ll do just about anything to go against Chiron.”

Later, Percy was sitting at the Poseidon table, occasionally chatting with people who were passing by. He watched as people started to get tipsy, or drunk, and retreated further away from people. Despite what he might seem like on the outside, Gabe had left a mark on his life.

Percy found himself in the back of the crowd. Being around so many tipsy/drunk people made him nervous, and Percy wasn’t having as much fun as he could’ve had.

“You know, he can’t take his eyes off of you. He’s been staring for the last 45 minutes,” Hazel said, walking over. Luckily, he caught no scent of alcohol, but he was confused as to what she said. Who was this ‘he’ she was talking about?

“What are you talking about? Nobody’s staring at me,” he said to Hazel. A drunken Legion Member passed by, and Percy flinched. Hazel took notice, but said nothing. She knew it was a sensitive topic for him, and for that, Percy was grateful.

“You’re telling me that you haven’t noticed,”

“I don’t even know who you’re talking about,”

“Percy, look around. Who’s staring at you right now?” she asked, gesturing around the pavilion. Nobody was, but for some odd reason, Jason was holding a bright red apple while talking to Piper. Percy didn’t think that the party had apples, so what was he doing with one.

His eyes lingered on Jason a bit too long. He saw Jason glance over at him, and they made eye contact. Percy looked away first, as he didn’t want to reveal the small (okay, big) blush on his face. Hazel grinned, and skipped away. Percy just leaned back on a column.

“The moment this ball drops, I’m going,” Percy muttered to himself. He felt as if he were twelve again, fearing the next punishment Gabe would give him. He silently cursed Alice and Julia for spiking the drinks.

“All the sudden hating the world? Mood,” Piper said. Percy jumped, and literally almost punched her. She had snuck up behind him, and put an arm around his shoulders. Piper saw the action, and wisely decided to ignore it.

“Hey Pipes,” he managed to croak out. She gave Percy’s shoulder a comforting squeeze.

“Something wrong?” she asked kindly. If Percy were thinking a bit more clearly, he would have noticed she put a bit of charmspeak into the question.

“Nah. Just had a bit of a rough childhood, and alcohol brings back some...unpleasant memories,” he mumbled, just quiet enough for Piper to hear. She didn’t inquire, which made him thankful.

Piper gave him a reassuring hug. “I’d better get going, but see you soon!” she said, before rejoining the party.

“Hey, Percy! Think fast!” called the voice that Percy recognized later as Jason. He whirled around, and saw a red object flying at him. It was the apple. He snatched it, and stared at Jason strangely. Why would he do that? Then it clicked. In Ancient Greece, if you were to throw an apple to the girl and she caught it, it was a sign of proposing.

Jason ran over, panting slightly. There was an excited shine in his electric blue eyes, one that portrayed a lovesick puppy. Seeing him was enough to turn his mind into mush,

“I- What? We’re not even, err, um,” Percy stammered. Jason just laughed, though it sounded nervous.

“Dating? I thought this might’ve been the way to ask,” Jason said, staring at Percy. “I know what I’m about to say is cheesy, but it’s true. Since the day we met I’ve envied you. You were so perfect, so strong, so brave, that I felt as if I couldn’t compare. Until Piper broke up with me, I didn’t actually realize what those feelings were. But now I know. I wasn’t jealous of you, I was in love.” Jason looked at Percy, hope gleaming in his eyes. Percy felt so confused, as if the person Jason was talking about wasn’t really him. It couldn’t have been. He was just Percy. Not a hero, but Percy.

“That really was the cheesiest line ever,” he managed to croak out. Jason gave a sheepish smile.

“But was that a yes?” Jason asked. He seemed prepared for the worst, waiting for bad news, but there would be none.

“I’ll tell you after the countdown,” Percy said. Jason’s face fell, and Percy laughed. He gave Jason a kiss on the cheek, and pulled him close, Jason’s face slightly above his (dam that one inch). “But I’m pretty sure you already know.”

Jason hummed in response. “I can only hope I’m right then,” Jason said to him. “Now, let’s go see the ball drop at a safe distance, okay?” he started to lead the way, but Percy shot him arm out, grabbing Jason’s hand tightly.

“ What? If I’m going out there, I need a guide who’s sober,” he said defensively, watching Jason laugh. Jason was someone that Percy could let his guard down with, and he took full advantage of it.

‘10, 9, 8, 7!” the demigods shouted, as Jason asked Percy something.

“So, what was your answer?” he said, brushing his finger along Percy’s jawline. Percy looked up at Jason, nervousness in his eyes.

“6, 5, 4,’ the count continued. Percy gave Jason’s hand a squeeze.

“Yes. My answer is and alwa-”

“3, 2, 1!”

As soon as the countdown reached zero, fireworks went off. The ball actually was dropped, smashing into more fireworks. But Percy payed no attention to this, as he was busy with something else.

Jason’s lips were pressed against his, not going any further, but reveling in their success. The moment that they had collided, he was a goner.

Later, he would curse himself for melting with no resistance, but he wouldn’t really mean it. With Jason, he was like a dog who would follow its owner blindly, not asking any questions.

But Percy didn’t really mind.

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perseusjackson-jasongrace · 4 years

Text

Goodbye, My Lover

Oh this one hurts y'all! Prompt C-50 was hurt/comfort with "How drunk was I?"

Ley, i don’t know how much you’re gonna love me after this but i really really went for the hurt part of this. Please forgive me friend?! And i hope you still like this even if it’s not what you expected?

Masterlist, Goodbye My Friend

Send me prompts y’all! I love them! And i’m avoiding uni work at all costs so i’m happy to do them!

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"Fuck you." Annabeth Chase breathes, grey eyes misty with anger.

"Just get out, leave me alone." Percy Jackson turns away, turns his back to her.

"The next time," Her voice cracks but she stands her ground, "When you come crawling back, when you need us, remember the words you said today. Because I will never forget."

And with that his apartment door slams, echoing around the room, in time with the ringing in his ears. His mind is blank, body numb. He doesn't want to believe it, doesn't want to even think it. No. It's not true. It can never be true.

The words he said to his best friend rattle in his husk of a heart. Rattle and bounce and tear. It's your fucking fault. Why didn't you do anything. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. He blocks out the anguish he saw in her eyes, blocks out the broken sound she had made when he screamed. He doesn't want to believe this. Doesn't want to... Believe what?

Percy grabs his car keys and nearly rips the door off its hinges in his haste to get out. When he's finally in the car, it's too quiet. He can hear his thoughts, he can hear his heartbeat, and how loud the silence is.

I will not cry. There is nothing to cry about. It isn't true.

Music blasts through the speakers, vibrating the car. Drown it out. Drown out everything. He drives and drives and drives till he is parallel with the ocean, till his ear drums are almost bursting with pain. There on the edge of a street is a bar. He stops, parking carelessly. It's ten am, no-one will be here for hours anyway. And he doesn't give a shit if they are.

He prowls in and sits down at the counter instantly, not bothering to take notice of the velvet couches, and leather chairs. Or the low, yellow lights, swinging overhead, and casting the room in a soft, buttery glow.

"Give me your strongest shit." His voice is rough.

"Bit early isn't it?" The bartender is playful but Percy isn't in the mood.

So when he looks up, green eyes glowing with danger, she immediately apologizes and gets to fixing his drink. Before she can set the glass on the marble-top, he's swiped it and downed the contents. He coughs at the fire blazing in his throat and then growls, "Keep em coming."

"Sir," She says softly, gently, he doesn't want her pity. "We're legally only allowed to sell three of those per customer, and not all at the same time."

"Well find something else. I need to get drunk. And fast." He isn't interested in reasons, he doesn't want to hear people. He wants to escape.

She sighs softly, but moves away to prepare his orders.

Percy shoots back whiskey, brandy, tequila, vodka, and everything else she gives him. By the time he's ten drinks in his head is blurry and his tongue is going numb.

"Sir, I think you should slow down."

He giggles, shakes his head, "No thanks. If I can't still hear my thoughts I'm not drunk enough."

Another glass is placed in front of him, amber liquid glistening in the dim lights. He drinks and drinks, until he can't feel his fingers and his mind is numb.

"Can I ask sir?" She looks at him curiously, "Why are you... What happened?"

"I don't know," He smiles, sloppy and distracted, "I mean I do know but it's not true."

"You're getting drunk off a lie?"

He ignores her question, staring into his now empty glass, "I was mean to my friend you know?"

"Oh is that why you’re here?"

"She said something that can't possibly be true. And I was mean to her."

"What did she say?" So much patience in her tone.

"She said," He hiccups, giggles, "Wait who?"

"Your friend? What did she say that made you say mean things?"

"Oh," He frowns, pushes his glass forward to get a refill, "Well it doesn't matter what she said because it's not true. But I told her I hate her."

"And do you hate her?"

Percy looks up then, tears streaming down his face, "Of course I don’t hate her. She's my best friend."

"Then why did you say that?"

"Why did I say what?" He murmurs, and then smiles, "How are you?"

"I'm fine thank you."

The bartender is striking, braids threaded with gold strains and gorgeous earthy skin.

"You're very beau— very beaufit— you're pretty. I hope someone tells you that everyday." His words are slurs and mumbles.

"Thank you." Her smile is beautiful too, gleaming white teeth and warm brown eyes.

"Do you have someone I can call?"

"Why do you want to call someone?" He pouts, "Am I boring you?"

"I think you need to have a nap."

He grins at her, black curls flopping into his face as he shakes his head, "I need another of that delicious drink. The blue one you made. I like blue things."

"If you can give me a phone number, I'll give you the drink."

He frowns, thinking about it, "Okay deal!"

And then he has a tall blue drink in front of him and she's moved to the other side of the bar, her phone pressed to her ear. He hears bits and pieces of conversation but he doesn't register anything. Instead he looks at the swirling glitter in the blue liquid, amazed by how it floats and sparkles.

"Okay," She comes back, "They'll be here in twenty."

"Twenty what?" He scrunches his nose in confusion.

"Twenty, minutes."

"Wanna know a secret?" He leans forward, motioning for her to come closer. "I'm very drunk." And that sets him off into peals of laughter. He almost falls off his chair but catches himself at the last second.

He gasps suddenly, and the bartender whips around, "What? What's wrong?"

"The stars are coming out! My boyfriend loves the stars."

"Oh, that's nice. The stars are pretty I can understand why he loves them."

"I love my boyfriend." Percy's smile is wide, and brilliant.

Just then a figure walks through the door. He squints to get a better look but can’t make them out in the blur of his vision, and the spinning room.

"Thank you for looking after him." The voice is raspy.

"He was entertaining, made my shift much more bearable at least."

"Well I'll take him off your hands." The voice reaches out a hand and places a stack of bills on the counter and then loops his arm around their neck.

"Can I ask?" The bartender motions to him.

"A friend died. He's not taking it well."

He can hear the wince in the stranger's voice, but he doesn't know why it's there. His eyes are so tired, he just wants to, to, to.....

Percy wakes up in his bed, head pounding like a hammer is doing gods work on his skull and his stomach is churning. He makes it to the bathroom with half a second to spare before he throws up all his internal organs, or that's what it feels like.

"How drunk was I?" He groans.

"Wasted. You drank for eight hours."

He looks up from the toilet to see Annabeth leaning against the door frame.

Annabeth...

His face crumples, "Tell me it's not true, Wise Girl."

And the shattering in her eyes confirms his worst fears.

He throws up again. And again. And again. And then he's screaming, crying, scratching at his chest. He can't breathe. He can't breathe. He can't fucking breathe.

"I'm sorry Percy." Annabeth's arms wrap around him, pulls him against her chest where he can feel her erratic heart and her shaking ribs.

He cries until he passes out. He hopes he never wakes up.

What's the point? There's no-one to wake up to.

His boyfriend is gone.

Jason Grace is dead.

#jercy fic #ciara only knows how to write jercy #PJSSG fanfic #PJSSG series #jercy #jason grace #percy jackson #prompt game #prompt fic #Ley asks

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mimiswitchywrites · 3 years

Text

Not A Burden: Chapter 3

TW: SH references, attempted s****de and references, child/s***al a**se references (not graphic but enough that could be triggering). Vague r**e scene at the end.

Master list or read on AO3

2.2k words

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Percival, sat with Elyan and opposite Arthur and Lancelot’s bickering, kept tabs on Gwaine and the girl. He didn’t miss the way his face lit up with glee and, if he understood correctly, mischief. It made him happy to see his friend on his way back to normal, but he still felt the pit in his stomach filled with anxiety. Why had his joyous little friend been in such a state in the first place? He had initially dismissed the thought that he was spooked by seeing the girl looking so unwell as he was well versed in bloody bodies, but that was the only explanation he could find.

“You see it too?” Elyan asked from his spot next to the giant. He could only grunt in response, too caught up in his concern for his friend. “Maybe he just needed some rest like he said last night.”

He understood the suggestion, but Percival had seen Gwaine when he was tired, and this wasn’t it. Unless, the cynical side of him thought, you don’t know him as well as you think you do. He tucked that thought away into the back of his mind to deal with at home. The woods with an injured woman and the king are not an appropriate setting for a crisis.

“We should help Merlin pack everything up and get a move on. I think it’s best that Lancelot and Arthur are separated as soon as possible.” Elyan said, knowing that things could only get more heated if they stayed where they were any longer.

With the horses all loaded up and the argument currently settled (Arthur was wrong, regardless of his pitiful defences) Lancelot mounted his horse and helped Percy lift Miriam up to him again. He was looking forward to riding with her now she was fully back to the land of the living. She seemed like an interesting young woman and reminded him of Gwen, somehow. The whole party – bar Arthur, if that morning was anything to go by – seemed to look at her in a sisterly manner. They wanted to help her, but no one knew how to treat her. They knew not talk walk on eggshells around her, but she was still a stranger, and they didn’t know the appropriate limits yet. Hopefully, they would figure them out soon, for everyone’s sake. That was the one good thing that came from Arthur’s outburst last night: they knew shouting was not a wise idea.

Well duh, he added.

“Are you comfortable, Miriam?”

“As comfortable as one can be on the second day of riding with a head that won’t stop spinning.” She quipped back. It took everything in him to not laugh at the way she made her remark.

“We can go slowly if that would help. Or I have water. Or you could sleep again, maybe more sleep is what you need?” She shook her head but leant back against his chest anyway. He could feel warmth spread through him and his cheeks heat up.

“It is okay. I would like to get to still, stone ground as soon as we can anyway.” He understood the feeling – it was often one he experienced on the return from hunting trips. While not quite as against them as Merlin, they always drained him and he found he slept far better the first night back. He hoped it would be the same for her as, judging by the bags under her eyes, she hadn’t got much sleep the previous night. “And I wanted to hear more of your stories.” She tilted her head back to look at him as she said this and he couldn’t help but notice how the freckles that littered her face reminded him of the constellations his mother taught him when he was but an infant.

“I suppose there are a few more I could tell you. Anything in particular you are after?”

They sat in silence as she pondered the question. Just as he was considering asking again, she answered: “tell me about Camelot. Is it truly as free as they say?”

This was not the topic he was expecting. He mulled the question over, what did she really want to know with one like that? Was it, he worried, that she wanted to know about the attitudes towards magic? He had enough to worry about with Merlin and his magic (that isn’t to say he isn’t grateful that his friend still confided in him, but he was quite the chaotic individual and more than once he had feared for Merlin’s life and the likeliness of him getting himself killed) and the prospect of befriending another magical individual did not do his heart much good.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to answer, I am sure you don’t want to disrespect your home or king.”

That was curious, she didn’t expect the answer to be positive, then? Deciding to brave it, he asked her to elaborate.

“When I was younger, maybe eight summers, a woman passed through the village I was living in. She wore armour of leather and steel and carried curved swords – like I’ve carved into the handle of my knife that your large friend has taken from me,” Percival turned on his horse at this, and gave her a small, apologetic smile, “and she told the most curious stories of lands she had visited. One such land – Camelot, she told me – had women like her. Women that wore armour and…” She paused to take a deep breath. She was getting rather warm; Lancelot could feel it on his arms as they curved past her to hold onto the reins. She began again, voice lower this time, “Women that would do unto each other as a man might his wife.”

She stopped, hoping her riding partner might catch onto what she was asking. Her head was so foggy that she was no longer sure that she knew what she was saying, really, but she had to ask before they arrived at their destination. She had been watching the way the King interacted with his manservant since she awoke the day before and she needed to know if they were what she thought they were.

If they were like her.

Gwaine watched as the girl slumped against Lancelot, clearly exhausted. He remembered the first time he was in her position and how it drained him. The thought of riding for days before finding a bed, while in that condition, was not a pleasant one and he certainly didn’t envy her.

He had enjoyed their conversation that morning. Having yet another person that could see Arthur as the ‘prat’ he was (he really needs to thank Merlin for introducing him to that word) was nice but the moment they stopped talking, he noticed his mind drifting back to why she was with them in the first place.

He hated it, plain and simple.

He thought that those days were far behind him and that, wearing the royal red and gold cloak, he was free. To have years of repressed memories hit him at once like this did not do him well.

The pounding behind his eyes grew. He really should have eaten dinner last night. Serves you right.

He sighed, rolling his eyes at himself.

The sun was directly above them before the pearly walls came into view. It was getting swelteringly hot, and all Arthur could think of was his large wooden tub in the centre of his room. And, though only a brief thought that he shoved away as quickly as possible, what Merlin would look like in it with him. He cleared his throat and raised his hand.

“I can see Camelot; we should be only another half of an hour.”

He heard Percival cheer, possibly sarcastic but probably not. Internally, he was reacting the same way. With Merlin by his side, he led the party back home.

Miriam insisted that she could walk to the Physicians chambers herself and that she didn’t need carrying. After reaching the top of the entrance steps, she began to reconsider. She could hear the sea in her ears, and her vision was fuzzy. I’ll just rest against Percival for a second, she thought.

She woke in a small cot with a blanket pulled up to her neck. She was so hot, sweat pooling in every crevice. Her head was pounding worse than it had the night of Anabella’s wedding and her arm was burning again. This isn’t ideal. She can’t die right and now it seemed as if she can’t not die right either. What a cruel irony. The ocean in her head was quieter and she could hear distant voices. One sounded like Merlin and the other someone old – the Physician, perhaps? After a few attempts, she pulled her eyes open and waited for them to focus. She could see ointments lining shelves, herbs drying from the ceiling, and more books than she had ever seen before. A woman with beautiful brown skin sat beside her, rinsing a cloth in a bucket on the floor.

She opened her mouth with the intention of greeting this stunning stranger, but could only make a quiet, choked sound. She brought her hand up to her throat as if that would make it better. The woman, noticing her distress, jumped up and retrieved a goblet of water. She lifted the back of Miriam’s head and helped her take a few sips, before setting her back onto the feather pillow.

“I’m Gwen. Guinevere. I’m a friend of Merlin’s.” She smiled and Miriam couldn’t help but notice the way it made her eyes sparkle.

“Miriam but you can call me Miri.” She forced out, hoping she didn’t sound too eager.

“’Miri’, I’ve never heard a name like that before. It’s cute.” Gwen looked down at the goblet, red seeping into her cheeks.

Miri began to push her hands on the bed, attempting to sit up. She could feel the torn skin protest, but she couldn’t bear to lie down any longer. Merlin rushed over, helping Gwen push her back down onto the bed and the old man – Miri could see him properly now – made his way to the empty chair beside her.

He had white hair that reached his shoulders, more wrinkles than she would expect on a man that could move as well as he could, and an impressively judgemental look on his face. One eyebrow seemed to be permanently raised and, feeling small, she obeyed Merlin and Gwen’s direction for her to lay back.

“You need rest, my dear.” He spoke gently, but she could feel the order behind his words. She sighed and, giving up, closed her eyes again.

It took a while to get to sleep, as it always does for the broken girl. She could feel Gwen put the wet cloth back onto her forehead which was quite a relief for a little while, and she listened to the trio talk. The old man said that she was too stubborn for her own good and that she reminded him of Merlin when he was sick (she wondered if he was often sick, she hoped not for the man’s sake if Merlin was truly as stubborn as he said) and Gwen asked what happened to her. The room went silent at that and Miri felt herself freeze up. She knew people would talk, especially while she was being treated, but she had hoped that she would at least not hear it. She wondered how she would explain it when she was allowed to talk again, and if she even wanted to explain it. What would they think?

Secretly, she thought that Gwaine fellow would understand. There was something about the way he watched her that made her feel like he knew what had been going through her head when she made her way into the forest that day. For his sake, she hoped he didn’t, but she resolved to talk to him about it when she could. Even if she was wrong, he seemed fun and she was in dire need of someone fun right now.

When she finally did get to sleep, thinking of plaiting daisies into the knight’s hair, she met her nightmares. It shouldn’t have surprised her but a part of her had expected them to leave her alone for a little while after such a traumatic event had happened to her body. Gods, did she hope they would leave her alone.

It stared as they normally did. The fire was burning, casting a warm orange glow against the back wall of the hut. Miriam, around five summers, was sat on a stool, occasionally throwing sticks onto it. She looked behind her and she was in the village hall, bodyless hands traveling over her body. One made its way up her dress, softly tracing the inside of her thighs, and a laugh sounded in her ear. A body formed next to her. It had the same brown eyes and curly black hair as her – his cropped close to his scalp – and that smile that she had seen everyday since she was born.

All she could do was gasp “No, please. Please stop.”

But she knew it wouldn’t do anything.

It never did.

She was pressed against the mud, one hand holding her face down and the other gripping onto her hips. Please, not again, she begged her mind to stop showing her this.

Fabric teared, bruises formed, and tears poured.

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bikkinibottom · 4 years

Text

Can’t Walk Without You

Here’s a little something I wrote to celebrate 100 followers! I got the idea based off of this post here.

This is my first time writing fanfic so I’d love for some feedback! Hope you all enjoy it!

Summary: It’s the 90’s and Percy makes mixtapes for Annabeth. She listens to them when she misses him.

She took it with her everywhere now, constantly listening to whichever song that played through the Walkman. It got to the point where even if she was having a conversation or in a meeting, the headphones rested around her neck playing music just loud enough for her to still hear and whoever happened to be right next to her. Some may call it rude, but people knew to never question Annabeth, especially with everything going on now.

Annabeth remembers the first mixtape Percy had made for her when they were fourteen. It was not too long after the battle on Mount Othrys where Percy and the group had rescued her and the goddess Artemis from Luke’s imprisonment. She smiles fondly too herself as she remembers the encounter with Percy:

Christmas was just around the corner and Annabeth begrudgingly decided to spend the holiday with her family in San Francisco. Percy and she had agreed to meet up to exchange gifts at Half-Blood Hill before she left. She stood near the Big House, which was adorned in colorful holiday lights, waiting for him. Behind her led to where the cabins were, the hearth at the center of the U-shaped formation seemed to glow brighter than ever, warm and inviting just like a fireplace at Christmas-time should be. The sky was clear save for a few clouds, the constellations piercing and bright. Fresh snow lay all over camp, some of the year-rounders just beginning to take advantage of the fresh snowfall. She looked up to see Percy approaching her, his ears looked pink without a hat on from what she could tell in the dim light.

‘Seaweed Brain’ she thought, thinking of the winter hat she knit him for his gift. It was a simple beanie that was baby blue, with one black stripe cutting across.

“Took you long enough. I got a flight to catch tomorrow, Seaweed Brain,” she jokingly said to him.

Clearly something else was occupying his mind because the scowl he attempted to make wasn’t sincere and looked more like fond exasperation. Annabeth tried not to look too into it.

He stopped walking and begun to turn around dramatically.

“Well if you’re gonna have that attitude about it I’ll just be on my-” but Annabeth cut him off with a laugh and shoved his arm.

“Come on, Percy. I’ve been waiting for this,” she told him with a bit of mock irritation in her voice.

“You have?” the boy before her asked timidly. And for the first time that night, Annabeth noticed Percy actually looked anxious for whichever reason she could not figure out yet. His eyes looked more of a golden from the reflection of the Christmas lights shining off the Big House.

Annabeth looked away from his eyes as she casually said, “Duh, we’re exchanging gifts. It’s like the best part of the holiday season,” though she wasn’t too sure of her response seeing the gloomy expression take over his face.

Percy looked away as he let out a simple, “Right.”

Not wishing to dampen the mood on what was supposed to be a pleasant occasion, Annabeth quickly asks, “Do you want to go first?”

“Uh, I- no. You go first,” he responded quickly as well.

Annabeth presented him with his gift bag filled with sea-green tissue paper and he dug around in it until he pulled out the gift card she had gotten him. He flipped it over to see what it was for and he smiled appreciatively.

“That’s the skate store you go to a lot right? The one by your apartment?” she asked just to double-check and make sure.

“Yeah! I- Thanks Annabeth,” he told her genuinely then paused. “Uh, how much is on it?”

“A hundred dollars,” she replied.

His eyes seemed to pop out of his head before he stuttered for the next few seconds. Annabeth just looked at him with a confused but amused smile on her face.

“This- this is more than enough for a whole new skateboard. I- I don’t think I can accept this,” he blurted out in shock.

“Skateboards are expensive. I thought that was a good amount,” she said matter-of-factly. Annabeth had briefly forgotten that Percy and his mom didn’t have a whole lot, meanwhile, her family was more than well off and Annabeth could afford to splurge on her friends.

“There’s another gift in the bag,” she pointed out.

He gave her an incredulous look before digging around in the bag. He pulled out the beanie wrapped in a layer of tissue paper and unwrapped it. He held out the hat in front of him with a neutral expression.

“You hardly ever wear a hat, let alone own a proper winter one so I figured you could use a nice one. I made it myself,” she said, her voice laced with pride. It had taken her a couple of tries to knit a hat before she managed to perfect it. Athena wasn’t the goddess of crafts for nothing. Annabeth was proud of her handiwork.

“You made this?” he asked softly. The tender look in his eyes made Annabeth’s face a little warm but she nodded genuinely.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Annabeth said. “It’s your turn.”

“O- oh. Right.” Percy cleared his throat and placed the gift bag on the snowy ground with his presents inside. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a card with a smaller rectangular box attached to it. Annabeth didn’t know what the box could be seeing as it was wrapped but she opened the card and read it to herself first.

The card itself didn’t have many words and with the low-lighting, she couldn’t exactly make it out with her dyslexia. But underneath the message of the card, she noticed Percy’s chicken scratch hand-writing where he wrote out in Ancient Greek, ‘Hope you have a good new year. Merry Christmas, Wise Girl. Your friend, Percy’.

She smiled up at him and gave him a sweet thank you.

“Um, the uh, the gift. I made it myself. I don’t know if you’ll like it but um, if you give it back I understand. It’s kind of lame, actually-” Percy stammered out, and she could tell the red on his face wasn’t coming from the Christmas lights. With a roll of her eyes, she tore open the wrapping and was presented with a cassette player. Written on one side in Percy’s hand-writing it said: ‘Songs I Think You’ll Like (vol. 1)’.

“It’s a mixtape,” Percy blurted out, “I was thinking about how we’ve barely ever talked about music so I put a bunch of songs I figured you’d like. You can listen to it whenever you want.”

Annabeth was at a loss for words. Picturing Percy in his room toiling with the radio on, waiting for hours for the right song to come on to record, or maybe using some of Sally’s old records to record music from... It was a little too much for Annabeth.

Impulsively she jumped towards Percy, wrapping her arms around his neck in a quick hug. Backing away she looked him in the eyes.

“Thank you, I love it,” she told him. At that point, she didn’t need a mirror to know that both their faces were red now.

“Really?” he asked, relief in his voice and body language.

“Yes, I can’t wait to listen to it,” she answered genuinely.

A goofy smile broke out onto his face and Annabeth felt herself smiling as well. After talking for a bit more, they eventually said their goodbyes and parted ways.

As Annabeth boarded the plane the next morning, she had a brand new Walkman stuffed in her pocket that she had bought as soon as she left the campgrounds last night. She couldn’t wait to listen to it on the plane.

Recalling the memory brought a melancholy smile to her face, but it was very dim. Annabeth remembers how nearly every month after that she received a mixtape from Percy in the mail, each with a different purpose but all equally good. When they had started dating, the music became a lot more romantic and he would gift her one at each monthly anniversary. She would’ve received a new mixtape soon for their five-month anniversary, but now he was missing and Annabeth wasn’t sure if she’d ever get to hear it. The thought made her chest ache painfully, and she blinked back tears.

Rolling onto her back in her bunk, Annabeth thought back to the events of the day and let out a frustrated sigh. Just when she finally had some type of lead to where her boyfriend might be, she was met with three demigods at the Grand Canyon with more questions than answers. Not to mention her least favorite goddess seemed to be involved in all of this somehow. Realizing she needed to get actual sleep tonight if she was going to leave early in the morning to search for Percy, the daughter of Athena put on her invisibility cap, grabbed her Walkman, and snuck out of Cabin 6 to head over to Cabin 3.

Inhaling the ocean scent that Poseidon’s cabin had, Annabeth made her way over to Percy’s dresser, where he always kept extra clothes. Grabbing one of his hoodies, she put it on and laid down in Percy’s bunk. It wasn’t the biggest secret amongst her siblings that she would often sneak out to his cabin at night but since he went missing she made it her new unassigned sleeping quarters.

If the bed weren’t cold, Annabeth could almost imagine Percy there with her. Surrounding herself in his ocean breeze scent helped put her to sleep but there was some dull ache lingering inside her tonight. It was as if there was nothing inside her; her heart, her lungs, everything just- gone. Instead, a dark void seemed to eat at her from the inside out, and all of her senses felt numb.

Putting on her headphones and pressing play on the Walkman, her favorite cassette plays out. Once they’d started dating, Percy gave her this one and told her the songs sounded a bit like the one they had danced to on Olympus all those years ago. She recalls Percy telling her that to him the song sounded a bit sad, but a little hopeful too.

Annabeth cries herself to sleep that night.

#i didn't say it was gonna be happy LOL #not sorry #i've had this stuck in my head for a while #my writing #percabeth fic #percabeth #oneshot #pjo #hoo #ttc #tlh #percy jackson #annabeth chase #fanfiction #erica writes

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greekgeek21 · 3 years

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Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - team-up time!!

Ok, so I'm a little off schedule, but who cares? Honestly, I've been getting a lot of good reviews/comments and I'm so grateful!!

My amazing beta reader, nightskywithrainbows, is so patient and I would not be able to do this without you. So, give them some love!

Anyway, I hope you like this! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

Ω ♆ Ω

"Wise Girl? Are you here?" Percy asked as he walked into his cabin.

He had just gotten back, and the first thing he did was ask where Annabeth was. Apparently, she had got into the Poseidon Cabin after their IM and hadn't come out since. It was sweet, really, but if she ever caught him saying that, he would be beheaded in an instant, so he kept it to himself.

He was not expecting what he saw when he walked into his home-away-from-home. Annabeth was asleep on top of his covers, a book laying beside her. The lights were still on, too. It looked like she had tried to stay awake for him, but it was reasonable for her to fall asleep. He HAD gotten back at 2 AM.

To anyone else, she would have looked peaceful, but he knew his girlfriend, and he saw that she was having a nightmare. Unlike him, who thrashed around and screamed, Annabeth was dead silent during her dreams. It had scared him more times than one. The only indication was her frown, the slight sheen of sweat, and the rare barely-there whimper.

He raced to her side, lying down next to her and pulling her into his side, "Shhh...you're okay. We're okay. We got out. We're safe now."

The Tartarus nightmares had gotten better, but they still had them every so often. They had learned to deal with them properly in a way that worked. They had even tried therapy once, but that was a disaster waiting to happen anyways. Annabeth and him don't talk about their feelings very well. Still, it was worrying to watch your loved ones suffer with nothing to offer for comfort other than your support.

Percy continued to whisper sweet nothings and reassurances in Annabeth's ear before her breathing eventually evened out and she slowly started to blink her eyes open. She seemed confused about his appearance for a second before she realized that he had come in while she was sleeping.

"Seaweed Brain? When did you get here?" She tried to sit up, but Percy held her tight, so she relaxed into him.

"Not long ago. But don't avoid the question. You know we need to talk about it. What happened this time?" he asked.

Annabeth sighed and answered, "It was the same one. You were controlling the poison 'down there' and I saw your eyes. They were a sickly green, Percy. Not anything like your usual sea green. They were almost grey, and they were glowing. I was terrified. This time, I couldn't stop you. I had to watch as y-you killed her."

By then, tears had started to escape her tight control over them. If it were anyone else, Annabeth would never have let them hear her sound so weak, let alone see her crying. She was the strong leader of Camp Half-blood, and that came with the responsibility to keep a confident front.

However, every leader needs time to release the stress. Her alone time with Percy was that time. He had been through almost everything with her, and she trusted him to the end of the universe. HE was HER rock just as much as SHE was HIS.

"I would never do that. You have to know that. It wasn't real. We're home, and we're together. We made it, Wise Girl," Percy reassured, kissing her on the head.

"Yeah, I know. They just get so real sometimes," Annabeth curled into his side.

"I know. It's late, though. Do you want to stay up talking or do you want to try to sleep again?" he asked, tucking them under the sheets.

Annabeth closed her eyes, wrapping Percy's arm around her tighter as she said, "Let's go to bed. I'm sure I'll be fine now that you're here."

Percy smiled his goofy smile, "Okay, Wise Girl. I love you."

"I love you, too, dork."

He chuckled, and Annabeth fell asleep in contentment to the sound of his heart beating. As long as that was happening, she would be fine.

Ω ♆ Ω

The next few weeks went by as smoothly as a demigod's life could. Percy never received any communication attempts from SHIELD, so he let himself fall back into his schedule. Him and Annabeth went to stay with Sally while also staying at camp on and off. There were no major problems for him to deal with, and he was soaking up every bit of it.

Of course, he should have never said anything. That was an invitation to the Fates.

He was driving with Annabeth when he learned about it. A news broadcaster came over the radio and was retelling an active event happening in Los Angeles.

"There has been another suicide bombing in downtown LA. There appears to be GREEN FIRE coming from the explosion. Officials are attempting to get the flames under control, but their tactics seem to be failing thus far. This is another in a string of connected bombings around the US. So far, there are no suspects, but we are told there has been progress made in the investigation. What is the purpose of these attacks and who..."

Annabeth turned the volume down. She turned to Percy with a grave expression. Green fire could only mean one thing: the divine were involved. The mortals had somehow gotten into contact with Greek fire, and they were using it for terrible acts of violence. And of course nobody could put the fire out, it was impossible unless dealt with by someone who knew what they were dealing with. Like Leo, for example.

"Percy, at the Brooklyn Bridge, was the fire green?" Annabeth asked cautiously, already dreading the answer.

"I can't remember. I was too focused on making sure the bridge didn't collapse that I didn't bother to check what the explosion looked like. Oh gods, what if I could've done something if I had seen it earlier? What if I could have stopped this bombing in LA? This is all my fault!" he exclaimed.

Annabeth laced her fingers with his, "Perce, you did more than anyone could've asked. You saved so many people that day. This is not your fault, okay?"

He still looked disbelieving, but he reluctantly nodded. He didn't have time to debate his guilt with Annabeth, he had somewhere to be. Percy wasn't exactly sure where that location was, but he was needed somewhere, and so was Annabeth.

"SHIELD's on this case already. I need to get in contact with them, and then we need to meet with them. I'm not letting anyone else get hurt," he told Annabeth, driving towards Camp Half-Blood.

The gears were turning in Annabeth;s head, and he knew the exact moment she figured out what his plan was. Surprisingly, she didn't argue. She just nodded and grabbed her phone from her backpack, flipping it open and turning it on. She only used it in emergencies, and this felt like an emergency.

She called one of the few numbers she had on there: Camp Half-blood's. Camp had only one phone in the Big House, and it was scarcely used. It was an old landline, too, in hopes that it attracted less monsters. Nowadays, it was impossible to not attract them, with technology all around them.

It rang for a long time, almost to the point that she was just going to give up, but right as she was going to press the 'end call' button, Jason's voice came over the phone, "Hello? Who is this?"

Annabeth let out a sigh of relief, "It's Annabeth. I'm with Percy. We need you to gather the Seven quickly. We'll be there soon."

"What? Annabeth, what's going on? Why do you sound so worried?" Jason asked.

Annabeth's patience was waning, "Jason! This is important! Secret of the gods important! Prepare for a fight and wait for us to get to camp. We'll explain there."

Jason sighed, clearly wanting more information than that, "Alright. See you soon."

"Bye," Annabeth hung up the phone as soon as possible.

They had probably already been on for too long, but it was worth a shot. And besides, none of the monsters would dare come near them once they realized who was on the call. That's what she was counting on, anyway.

She looked up at Percy and instantly noticed the tension all throughout his body. He still believed it was his fault, obviously. There wasn't much she could do about that. It was his fatal flaw!

"We're going to figure this out," she consoled.

"Yeah," Percy whispered as he pulled over at the bottom of the hill leading up to Camp.

They were both out of the car and running already, so it didn't take them long to reach Peleus and Thalia's tree. He didn't even pay them a thought as they ran through the border and towards the Big House, where they could see a group of armored demigods congregated on the porch.

As they ran closer, they saw it was the Seven on the porch, talking with Chiron. They were all in their basic armor: a chestplate, greaves, vambraces, and helmets resting under their arms. Piper had her dagger hanging on a belt, Jason had his gladius, Frank had his bow and arrows slung over back, and Hazel was carrying her imperial gold spatha. Leo was, of course, wearing his toolbelt. They all were in various states of confusion and agitation from being left in the dark about whatever they were dealing with, and they all seemed relieved when Annabeth and Percy came running up.

Before either of them could get a word out, Piper spoke, "Let me guess: this has something to do with Percy and the bombings, and now we need to go clean up his mess."

"Words hurt, Pipes," Percy sarcastically held a hand over his heart.

She rolled her eyes, "You'll survive."

Annabeth smiled in the direction of her friend. She had really started to become comfortable as a demigod in the past year. Plus, she had picked up on some of Annabeth's habits. Like picking on Percy, for example.

"What's this about Annabeth?" Jason asked, stopping the playful mood in its tracks.

Annabeth exchanged a look with her boyfriend before responding, "Piper was right. This is about the bombings. They're using Greek fire. But it's still mortals doing it. That means somebody from out world is supplying the mortals with our weapons, and that is a recipe for disaster. We need to stop it before it gets too out of hand."

"Why us, though?" Hazel asked.

"We're the Heroes of Olympus, and we're the best to represent our kind in the fight. Plus, I trust you guys the most. In case it is a mole in the camps, we need to keep this between us," Annabeth answered.

The mood got even more serious at the realization of where her thoughts were headed. Somebody still inside the camp could be taking the fire to the mortals, and they didn't know who it was yet.

But then Piper noticed something in Annabeth's wording, "What do you mean 'represent our kind?' Who are we meeting?"

Percy answered her this time, "SHIELD. They're already working on this, and I have a deal with their director to help with stuff from our world. We only need to figure out how to contact them."

"I've got that covered!" Annabeth interrupted, "I have a plan."

"Of course you do," Jason said, "What is it?"

"We're going to Stark Towers, and we're going to meet with Tony Stark. He's Iron Man, and he no doubt works with SHIELD, so we'll use him to get to them. It's not my best plan, but it's the best we got," she answered.

"It's better than what I was going to do," Percy remarked.

Annabeth didn't even want to ask what his plan was going to be. That was a road she did not want to go down.

"When do you leave?" Chiron asked, finally speaking for the first time.

"Percy and I will get ready and then we'll head out right after. We need to get a handle on this ASAP," Annabeth answered, already heading towards the armor shed.

Percy ran down to meet her there, and they got dressed in the same gear as the others before heading towards their separate cabins. As a precaution, all campers had been required to make an emergency quest backpack in case they had to leave quickly. They had the demigod essentials like toothbrushes and paste, deodorant, a couple spare changes of clothes, nectar and ambrosia, and a prism with some drachmas for IMing.

Percy and Annabeth both grabbed their kits, along with a few other personal items that they suspected would be needed for this specific quest, if you could even call it that. They still had to meet with Rachel, but she was staying with her dad in New York. That would have to wait for later.

They were geared-up and ready in less than twenty minutes, and then they were standing on the edge of Half-blood hill with the others, saying goodbye to Chiron.

"Be careful. I have a feeling the path you are about to take will lead you through hard times," Chiron warned.

"We'll be fine, Chiron. It's nothing we can't handle," Annabeth assured.

He gave a tight smile in return. His reaction to their quest was disconcerting, but the demigods didn't have time to ponder on it. They had to get to Stark Towers as soon as possible.

So, they gave one last wave and started towards the Delphi Strawberries van Argus had pulled up. He would be driving them to the tower, but they would be on their own from there. There wasn't any reason to be worried, though. They had traveled across the world on a floating boat; this would be a piece of cake.

The drive there was tense and silence-filled. Or it was until Leo ruined it.

"So I get to meet Tony Stark?" he asked, an excited grin forming on his face.

Piper groaned, realizing what was bound to happen. She had met Mr. Stark at a gala her father had dragged her to before. He was a self-centered jerk who had too much money to know what to do with it. Plus, his ego was the size of a planet. Leo and Tony Stark together in one room was going to be crazy.

"Don't do anything nuts, Leo. We need him to trust us, and it's hard enough doing that without telling him what we are," Percy said.

Leo gasped, "I am hurt that you would ever think I would do such a thing! Uncle Leo just wanted to chat about some design flaws in his suit! And maybe some possible ideas that all that money could help put into action..."

Annabeth gave him her death glare, and he sank away, "You are forbidden from speaking until I say so."

He hurriedly nodded his head. She was scary!

Percy smirked at his girlfriend, knowing that she was fully aware of the effect she had on the poor demigod. Of course, Percy was whipped, too, but it was still amusing to see Annabeth go all 'powerful daughter of Athena' on people that weren't him.

"We're almost there, guys," Piper said, pointing up ahead, where they could see the tall outline of Stark Towers.

Annabeth had to admit, the architecture was impressive, even if she would've gone less futuristic. But the sustainable energy system was remarkable.

She snapped herself out of her daze. She was not there to admire the architecture, she was there to do her job: saving the mortals. And with the amount of stupid stuff they did, they would never get a vacation.

"So what's so important about this Stark guy?" Hazel asked, finally giving in to her curiosity.

"Oh! I always forget you aren't all caught up on modern pop culture," Piper exclaimed, "Tony Stark is a rich, playboy, engineer who doubles as an Avenger. The Avengers saved the world from aliens when we were saving it from itself. He's Iron Man, which is basically just a suit he invented."

"Sounds like someone Leo would like," Hazel remarked.

Percy laughed as Argus pulled over, "Exactly."

The demigods all climbed out, standing in a line before the entrance. It seemed they were all waiting for one of them to make the first move, but nobody wanted to be that person. Of course, Annabeth wasn't one to back down from anything, so she stepped forward and pushed the glass doors open, striding through with confidence only a daughter of Athena could command.

The rest of the group trailed behind, tensed for anything. They were literally surrounded on all sides by technology, and it was unnerving for them all. Well, for almost all of them. Leo was practically vibrating with energy and excitement. He was about to meet his idol AND get the chance to explore all of the toys there.

"Remember: professional," Annabeth warned one last time before turning to address the front desk lady.

"Yes, mom," Piper whispered to Leo, who muffled a snicker in response.

Percy just prayed that this all went well. He wanted this whole ordeal to be over quickly. He didn't want to be brought into another situation where he had to use his powers. They were still too unreliable, even after a year. The bridge incident was hopefully a one-time thing.

"Hello. We're here to meet Tony Stark," Annabeth said.

They knew the Mist was covering their weapons and armor, especially with Hazel there. People wanted to see some regular teenagers, so that's what they were seeing. Not seven, well-trained demigods in full armor, prepared for battle.

The receptionist looked her up and down, "Do you have an appointment?"

Annabeth tried for a smile, but it turned into more of a grimace, "No, but it's important. I'm sure Mr. Stark would understand once we talk to him."

Sometimes being young can come in handy, but a lot of the time, it sucks.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Stark only accepts scheduled meetings. If you want to make one of those, you can contact his secretary. But for now, I would ask that you please leave," the woman responded.

Annabeth glared, and was about to start yelling, but Percy stepped up and placed a calming hand on her shoulder before he spoke, "Actually, this is urgent. And I'm sure that if you called Mr. Stark, he would send us up, considering that we're friends from work, and I'm not talking about his day job."

He said everything so calmly, that you would have thought he was having a civil conversation if not for his icy words.

"Fine," the woman ripped the phone up and dialled a number, "Yes, there are seven teenagers here to see Mr. Stark. They say it's urgent. And that it's about his OTHER work."

She nodded a few times before hanging up, "Mr. Stark will see you now."

Ω ♆ Ω

45 minutes earlier...

Fury was not having a good day. First, an idiot dressed-up as a spider ruins his morning, and then another bombing happens in LA, and finally, he has to deal with the Avengers now. He had been hoping to deal with this case without them, but he was pushed into the decision when he got a message from the terrorists responsible for the bombs. They threatened to bomb things much more important than the Brooklyn Bridge, and that they had the means to do worse.

None of his regular agents could figure it out, so he had to bring in the big guns. Besides, the heroes had had much too long of a break already.

That's how he found himself in another blacked-out SUV, on his way to Stark Towers after calling a meeting of the Avengers there. He had no way of contacting Thor, so it was just Stark, Rogers, Widow, Banner, and Barton. He had another person in mind, but Fury didn't want to call him in just yet. It was still a new alliance after all.

When he got there, he went straight up the elevator to the penthouse. From there, he went to the meeting room and found everyone but Stark already there, which was no surprise. Without a word, he strode up to the head of the table and slipped the flash drive into the slot, automatically turning on the holo-projector in the center of the table. The flash drive had all of the details of the case, along with whatever notes his agents had made.

He opened up the photo gallery, flicking to each bombing site, "The Brooklyn Bridge, Portland, LA, Long Island, San Francisco. What do all of these have in common?"

Just as Steve was about to answer, Tony burst in the door, taking a seat without an apology, as per usual.

Steve cleared his throat before continuing, "They all had a bombing happen recently."

"That's right. And it's gotten out of hand. Your job is to stop them," Fury cut right to the point, "Everything you'll need is in this folder. I want this done discreetly. That means no flashy spectacles, Stark."

Tony mock-gasped, "I would never!"

Banner shifted nervously, "Will the 'other guy' be needed for this?"

"Possibly, but as a last resort. You'll be needed for tracking more than anything," Fury answered.

Bruce nodded his head, seemingly finding comfort in that.

One look at Clint and Natasha, and you could see that they had gone into SHIELD agent mode. They were both studying the file information with rapt attention. They, at least, Fury could count on.

"This needs to be done as quickly as possible, got it?" he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Tony sarcastically saluted.

Fury held back a growl. If anyone could make him lose his composure, it would be Tony Stark.

"I expect results the next time I see you," he said, turning to walk out of the room, but he was interrupted by J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Sir, there is a group of teenagers asking to see you. They say it is urgent," the AI said.

Tony sighed, "J.A.R.V.I.S., I thought I programmed you better than this. I don't want to see them."

"But sir, I am told it has something to do with your Avengers work. They are very adamant," J.A.R.V.I.S. pressed.

"Pull up the camera feeds," Tony ordered.

For some reason, Fury felt compelled to see who had wanted to see Stark, and he understood why as soon as he saw the footage. There, with six other teens, was Percy Jackson.

Before Tony could turn them down again, Fury said, "Let them up. Now."

"Right away, Director," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, listening to his SHIELD reprogramming.

Tony threw his hands up in defeat and grumbled "Whatever. It's not like I own the building."

"Direct them here, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Fury ordered, going back to his previous position at the head of the table.

Steve sat up in confusion, "What are you doing, Fury?"

The man in question ignored him.

Before any more objections could be made, the Seven were standing before the Avengers, everyone confused.

Percy was the one who broke the silence, "Well, this makes our job a whole lot easier."

Ω ♆ Ω

Don't forget to like, comment, follow me, and reblog! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

other chapters :)

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #the avengers #mcu #superheroes #Percy Jackson and the avengers

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fallfromthaliagrace · 4 years

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sprained ankle and kisses - Percabeth AU

(I never thought I would write a AU of Percy Jackson but here we are! I hope everyone is safe and are sane during these weird times, hopefully it will get better. This originally was suppose to be a mini-series with six chapter but I decided I work better with one shots. I going to try to write an one-shot everyday tho each one shot is like 3000+ words but I have a lot of one-shot planned! Maybe I be able to write and post everyday when school cancelled?)

word counts: 3000+

warning: just a little bit of swearing ;)

Annabeth had called Percy late at night because of a problem that occurred. Annabeth didn’t want to call her dad who was working and she didn’t want to call her step-mother. So, instead, she had called Percy at eight pm… on a school night.

Annabeth went night-jogging because she had been doing her homework all day and went to get some fresh air to clear her head and get away from her family. And maybe or not, accidentally tripped and twisted her ankle. So there she was, sitting on the sidewalk at the park nearby by her best friend's (and crush) house.

Her ankle felt like it was on fire, and maybe it was from the glaring sun. Maybe. Annabeth couldn’t move her leg and felt entirely humiliated by the fact, she was sitting on the ground with her tank top and leggings, and looking like an idiot.

Annabeth was worrying that Percy had forgotten about her and how completely left her stranded. The sun was setting and Annabeth was getting anxious and closed her eyes for a couple of minutes, trying calming herself down. Annabeth took in the fresh air before exhaling it.

Annabeth could hear someone walking near her. Annabeth shook that thought, but that movement was coming toward her. Annabeth opened her eyes and looked up. She saw the troublemaker yet charming smile, the wild jet-black hair, the glinting sea-green eyes of Percy Jackson.

“Need any help? Wise girl?” Smirked Percy as he offered Annabeth a hand.

“Yes actually, my ankles hurt…” Annabeth said as the aching feeling of her ankle burst through her body.

The humor and sarcasm in his ocean eyes left, replaced with worried and concerned. Percy bent down and examined Annabeth’s ankles before biting his lips.

“It must hurt badly?” Whispered Percy, as Annabeth moaned in pain.

“Yeah, I think I might strain it, ouch.” Said Annabeth

“Wait, don’t move.” Said Percy as he picked Annabeth.

Annabeth widened at the sudden movement of Percy picking her up. It was weird, but it seems so right. Annabeth in Percy’s arms. Annabeth was now in bridal style in Percy’s arms. Annabeth’s arms were flailing around and without thinking, Annabeth wrapped her arms around Percy’s neck. Percy blushed and carried her to his apartment.

“You’re cute when you’re worried,” Annabeth whispered to Percy in the setting glow of the sun.

Percy chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows, “Annabeth Chase, You think I’m cute?”

Annabeth playfully slapped him in the chest before groaning from the shift in her position. Percy, who was slowly jogging to get Annabeth to his apartment complex faster, slowed down and apologized.

“No, you’re fine.” Muttered Annabeth, “I’m kinda getting achy from this position though.”

“Well don’t worry, we’re here.” Percy said softly, “Do you think you can handle standing up, we need to walk up the stairs”

“What about the elevator?” Suggested Annabeth as she unwrapped herself from Percy

“It’s been down for weeks, no one hasn’t been able to repair it yet.” Grumbled Percy, “I’m sorry-”

“It’s alright,” Annabeth said as Percy gently placed her down, “It’s alright if I, uh, lean on to you?”

Percy nodded. Annabeth unclasped her arms around Percy’s neck and the two entered the complex. There was barely anyone in the lobby beside the receptionist who didn’t even look up as they walked in. Percy and Annabeth walked up the stairs well more like... Annabeth was limping up the stairs with the support of Percy, some people were staring at them. Annabeth would usually be glaring back at them but this time, she was in too much pain to complain.

They finally reach Percy’s apartment, (curse on Sally for choosing such a high level of the apartment.) Percy gently put Annabeth down on the black and white couch and quickly went to the fridge to grab a packet of ice. Annabeth laid down on the couch as Percy placed the ice packet on the swelling ankle.

Annabeth whimpered from the contact of her swollen ankle and relaxed as the coldness of the ice spread out her leg.

“I think I actually strain it, no joke.” Annabeth sighed as she examined her throbbing ankle.

“You should rest, Annabeth.” Suggested Percy, “The ankle needs to heal.”

“But we need to finish the project,” Annabeth protested, “It’s due tomorrow.”

Annabeth and Percy were teamed up for a Social Studies project about Greek mythology and they had got Hera. Personally, Annabeth thinks that Hera is just overall a horrible and boring goddess and she wished that they had gotten Athena or Artemis.

“Don’t worry about that, you should worry about your sprained ankle.” Said Percy,

as he covered Annabeth with a blanket.

Annabeth shoved the blanket off her and said, “ The project…-”

“Chase,” Said Percy sternly, “I promise you when you wake up tomorrow morning the project will be done.”

“You promise?” Whispered Annabeth, as she lowers her head on the pillow that Percy gave her.

“I promise,” Percy said softly, “If it isn’t finished by tomorrow, I give you permission to drag me down the bottom of Hudson River.”

Annabeth laughed and closed her eyes, “Goodnight, Seaweed Brain.”

Though Annabeth had closed her eyes, she could feel Percy smiled and closed the lights.

“Goodnight, Wise girl.”

Sally had woken Annabeth at noon before she left for work. Percy had not woken her up for school and decided it was best if she stayed home for the day. Percy had alerted Sally about Annabeth’s stay and wrote Annabeth a rushed note before he left.

Dear Annabeth,

Please don’t be mad at me for not waking you up for school but I thought better of it when I saw how peacefully you look and how much better your swollen ankle looks. And don’t worry, I have finished the project and I presumed that you would like for me to ask your teachers for the homework. (Though, I don’t know why you would want homework when you missed school already.)

Love, Percy

P.S. I hope you feel better and I left you some clothes :)

Annabeth’s heart fluttered at the note that Percy had written for her. She rolled around and a thought popped in her, Why does this smell like Percy…! Annabeth jolted up and looked around her surroundings… her eyes widen at the location of where she had slept in Percy's bed. Annabeth fanatically jumped up, forgetting about her ankle. Annabeth whined at her mistaken movement and leaned against the wall. Annabeth didn’t know why her being in Percy’s bed caused such anxiety as she has been in Percy’s bed multiple times. It’s Annabeth’s (romantic) feelings for Percy. Percy.

Annabeth ran a finger through her hair when her phone rang. Annabeth, who was maybe, just a little bit, was hoping that Percy was calling but instead it was her dad. Her dad was picking her up at one clock to go to the doctors’ to check out her ankle. Annabeth was trying to reassure him that it was fine (Annabeth had hoped to see Percy when he came home) but her dad thought otherwise. After a few minutes of (fail) convincing, Annabeth finally agreed.

“Okay dad, I’ll see you at one.” Said Annabeth as she put her phone on speaker mode, “No it’s not necessary, I can walk, okay, I love you.”

Annabeth carefully hopped off Percy’s bed and stretched her arms and legs. Annabeth didn’t lie when she said that her ankle was better and she felt ten times better. Though Annabeth smelled from her jog yesterday and she didn’t get to shower yesterday. Annabeth looked at the clothes that Percy had picked out for her; a blue hoodie and her leggings.

Annabeth grabbed them and took them to the bathroom. The shower took fifteen minutes leaving her about twenty minutes to spare before her dad picked her up. Annabeth tugged on the hoodie, (it smell like the ocean: Percy,) and put on her leggings and left Percy's bedroom. Annabeth walks to the living room, where she could see her jacket from her late jog (that she so now regrets) lying on the couch. Annabeth sat on the couch watching On My block on Netflix when her phone started beeping. Annabeth took her phone out of her hoodie pocket and checked the messages, all from Percy. Annabeth smiled at the message Percy sent.

Seaweed Brain: Hey, u wake?

Wise Girl: Yep, I feel much better

Seaweed Brain: Good :)

Wise Girl: How is Math class?

Seaweed Brain: Good, though it would be great if you were here ;)

Wise Girl: lol, how was the presentation?

Seaweed Brain: We got 10/10 on it :))

Wise Girl: Thank Athena, We have spent all night doing it

Seaweed Brain: I can’t wait for actual sleep, I’m so done with social studies

Wise Girl: hm lol, I’m getting some cookies, blue cookies ;)

Seaweed Brain: Annabeth!

Wise Girl: Just kidding, besides I need to get ready for the doctor

Seaweed Brain: Doctor? Are you okay?

Wise Girl: Yeah, but my dad making me go to be sure

Seaweed Brain: Oh okay, what time?

Wise Girl: Now, my dad is here to pick me up

Seaweed Brain: Make sure to lock the doors

Wise Girl: I did :)

Annabeth grabbed her jacket and put it on before locking the doors. Annabeth walked down the stairs happily and in the lobby, her dad was waiting for her. Annabeth hugged her dad and they both left the complex. Annabeth was in her dad’s car texting Percy.

Wise Girl: Isn’t it six-period right now?

Seaweed Brain: Yeah, currently in science. I’m so bored

Wise Girl: Ugh, I want to be school right now

Seaweed Brain: You know, anyone is missing school wouldn’t be thinking about classes right now

Wise Girl: Speaking of, have you got my math homework from Mr.D?

Seaweed Brain: No...

Wise Girl: Why?

Seaweed Brain: Look, Mr.D is scary

Wise Girl: Aw, it’s fine then

Seaweed Brain: You there yet?

Wise Girl: Almost. Percy??

Seaweed Brain: Yes?

Wise Girl: Aren’t you in class right now?

Seaweed Brain: Uh, yes

Wise Girl is texting…

Wise Girl: Percy!! Get your ass off the phone and focus on the lesson

Seaweed Brain: Why? When I focused better talking to you ;)

Annabeth chuckled and could feel blushed from Percy’s flirtatious yet not very flirtatious text. Annabeth looked up from her phone to look at the moving surrounding and glanced at her dad who was singing the song track of Roman Holiday. Annabeth smiled before looking down at her phone that rings a loud beep!

Seaweed Brain: Annabeth?

Wise Girl: Yeah? Sorry! got distracted

Seaweed Brain: it’s okay

Seaweed Brain: Shoot, I need to go

Seaweed Brain: I love you bye

I love you. Annabeth bit her lips as her dad told her that they were here. Annabeth nodded and put her phone in “her” hoodie pocket. Annabeth’s heart was racing from what Percy had texted. I love you. What if it's like a matey I love you instead? Annabeth really needs to sort out her life problems.

Annabeth hopped off the car like she didn’t have a supposed sprained ankle but as she jumped, her ankle felt like it was on fire. Annabeth silently cursed before smiling through her pain.

“You okay, Darling?” Asked Fredrick who looked concerned, “You don’t look good.”

“‘I’m okay,” Annabeth tried to say without trying to imply that she was in pain

Frederick nodded but didn’t look convinced. They both entered the hospital and waited for their turn. Annabeth was looking through Pinterest when the nurse called out her name, Annabeth shoved her phone into her jacket pocket and got up to follow the nurse, her dad followed behind her.

In the doctor’s office, the doctor, Doctor Apollo, checked her ankle and told her it was sprained. Annabeth fought back her groan, she didn’t want to be on crutches for the next two weeks.

“Don’t worry, it’s only going to be for a short amount of time.” Reassured Dr. Apollo as he patched Annabeth’s ankle up.

“Oh, also, can we have a doctor note for her gym class?” Asked Fredrick

“Yeah, of course” Replied Dr.Apollo, “Now Annabeth, while on crutches, you can’t run or do anything related to sports, you must rest and let your ankle heal.”

Annabeth nodded, before getting on her crutches. Annabeth stood up and slowly but surely got walking.

After a couple of minutes of getting used to the crutches and listening to her dad talked out his concern and Dr.Apollo reassured him that everything will be fine. Annabeth was getting discharged and was able to leave the doctor’s office.

Annabeth walked out of the hospital to the sun shining on her, Annabeth took in the fresh air and looked behind to see her dad.

“‘Hey Dad? Can we go to school?” Asked Annabeth

“Why? To get your homework?” Replied Fredrick as he jiggled the car keys

Annabeth nodded, but she knew that real reason was to see Percy and that sarcastic troublemaker smile.

Fredrick nodded and said, “Okay kiddo school ends in an hour, let’s get something to eat in while time.”

“Okay, how about Panda Express?” Suggested Annabeth

“Yes! C'mon, get in the car” Said Fredrick excitedly, “I haven’t had Panda Express since November or was it September?.”

Annabeth chuckled and put her hands in her jacket pocket where she found her headphones. She plugs her headphones and listens to her Spotify playlist on her phone.

They arrived at Panda Express and ordered some Chinese food and ate by the window. They were discussed about Fredrick’s newest models of Warcraft ships. Annabeth was so impressed with her dad’s brilliant mind, no wonder why her mom, who (apparently, (Annabeth never met her)) had a strategic mind, had fallen for him. Annabeth never talked about her mom, her biological mom, because it was always a sore subject for her dad. But Annabeth knew that she was wise, quick-witted, and disciplined and that Annabeth had inherited her traits too.

Fredrick had finished eating and was ready for Annabeth to finish. Annabeth scarfed down her last bit of Chinese food and threw away the box. Annabeth dusted off the crumbs and got up and walked out of the restaurant with her dad.

Annabeth stopped walking and pulled up her hoodie to cover the sunlight that was blinding her. Annabeth sighed at the fact of how difficult it was going to be. Annabeth and Fredrick made it to the car and it was two in the afternoon, fifteen minutes from school ending.

Annabeth clicked through her phone. She scrolled through Instagram and Twitter, looking at her classmates’ pictures. Annabeth clicked out of it and clicked on the messages. Annabeth smiled at the icon and his name on her phone.

Wise Girl: Hey Perc, I’m going to school to pick up my stuff

Seaweed Brain: Oh, I’m was planning to drop it off by your house

Wise Girl: No, it’s fine :)

Seaweed Brain: Can’t wait to see you. The school has been boring without you

Wise Girl: Lol, I doubt that. You cause trouble without meaning to

Seaweed Brain: What can I say? I don’t go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me

Wise Girl: It’s that from a quote from a book or something?

Seaweed Brain: Maybe? I don’t know, I don’t read books

Wise Girl: You do read books, you know with me?

Seaweed Brain: Yeah, but I only read books with you

Annabeth smiled sheepishly at her phone screen. And looked up to see her dad pulling into the school's parking lots.

Wise Girl: We’re here, and also I’m on crutches

Seaweed Brain: :( so it was sprained?

Wise Girl: It didn’t even hurt this morning, eh whatever

Seaweed Brain: Aw, feel better. Thank god, the class is almost over :)

Wise Girl: You got my stuff?

Seaweed Brain: Everyone but Mr. D

Wise Girl: Aw, it’s fine I’ll get it myself later

Seaweed Brain: Sorry :(

Wise Girl: It’s fine, don’t worry

Wise Girl: Alrighty, I’m going out of the car

Seaweed Brain: Meet me by the front?

Wise Girl: Yeah, sure

Seaweed Brain: Cya

Annabeth told her dad she would be back and left the car. She walked towards her school and stood outside the school. She saw a couple of her friends sitting out on the lawn, Piper, and Jason.

“Annabeth” Shrieked Piper as she saw Annabeth’s circumstances and ran over to her

“Hey Piper,” Said Annabeth as she smiled sheepishly at her

“You okay? Percy told us all about it” Said Piper, concern in her voice

“I promise I’m fine, Pips,” Said Annabeth

“Hey Annabeth, you good?” Said Jason as he ran over to where Annabeth and Piper were standing

“‘Are you here to collect your schoolwork?” Asked Piper as she fidgeted her bracelet, “I bet you know that Percy has it.”

“Yeah, I know” Said Annabeth as she shielding her eyes from the sun

“Hey ladies,” Said a voice behind them, “ And gentleman”

“Leo,” Said Piper and Annabeth at the same time, and simpered at each other

“Hey- Annabeth, you okay? You look like you're burning and it’s usually me who is burning and sweating.”

“Um-”

“It’s not even hot, it’s warm.” Said Jason, his eyebrows furrowed together, “the wind is helping cool down with temperature.”

“Okay, weather boy.” Chuckled Leo who received a slap on the shoulder from Piper

Annabeth laughed, “Actually, I think I know why I’m burning and sweating”

“You’re wearing a jacket and hoodie in sixty-six degrees weather, I wondered why you’re burning up.” Said Piper as she rolled her eyes

Annabeth chuckled, “Can, uh, someone help me?”

“Ah, of course.” Said her friends at the same time, (kinda) forgetting she was on crutches

“Let’s move to the bench,” Suggested Jason, the others nodded in unison

As they were moving to the bench nearby, the bell rang signaling that school was over. While they walked they saw many friends of theirs, Reyna, Nico, Will, etc. Some of their friends, Hazel and Frank, joined them as they got to the bench.

“Hey, have you seen Percy?” Asked Annabeth as she realized Percy was the only one missing from their groups

Hazel brushed her hair behind her ears and blushed, “I saw him talking to Mr.D”

Annabeth’s gaze softly and she shook her head, “Aw, he shouldn’t have”

“Honestly Annabeth, I think the boy has fallen head over heels for you and you too.” Said Piper, a matter of factly.

“Piper, you aren’t going to stop your matchmaking with Percy and Annabeth?” Said Leo

“That’s my job, Leo,” Said Piper as she playfully shoved Leo, “Besides look!”

Piper had pointed to her back of her hoodie, curious, everyone looked at where Piper pointed. No one gasped or looked surprised, instead, they all smiled at each other like they knew it would happen soon.

“What is it?” Asked Annabeth, as she tried to look behind her back

“You wearing Percy’s hoodie,” Said Piper, “It says Jackson, with eighteen”

Annabeth blushed, “I know, that I’m wearing his hoodie”

“Hey guys, sorry for being late,” Said a voice that Annabeth had been in love with, “I had to get something from Mr.D.”

Percy jumped over the bench and sat next to Annabeth, warily of her crutches.

Everyone looked at Percy and looked at each other, they looked like they were silently communicating about something. Annabeth looked weirdly at all friends and back at Percy.

“Here, this is all your papers but they aren’t due till tomorrow.” Said Percy as he wrapped his arms around Annabeth.

Annabeth hoped she wasn’t blushing because this was making her blush. Annabeth gratefully accepted the papers and asked everyone how their day went.

Leo took out a note with lunch detentions on it and said, “Bad, tomorrow I have lunch detention though I don’t know why even I got it.”

Everyone laughed and talked about their day.

“Hey, does everyone want to go back to my house and watch a movie?” Percy asked

Hazel coughed and said, “I’m sorry but I need to get going to my horse training.”

“Oh okay-” Said Frank before getting elbowed by Hazel, “Oh-oh, my grandma wants me home to help her with, um, dinner, yes! dinner.”

“Oh-alright?” Said Annabeth skeptically at Frank, even Percy looked confused.

Piper facepalm and quickly put her hands before her back before saying, “Jason and I are going on a date.”

Jason smiled sheepishly, “Yep, we’re going to the beach.”

Piper, Jason, Hazel, and Frank looked at Leo and Piper who was nearest to him, nudged him. Leo’s eyes widened and looked back at Annabeth and Percy. Leo coughed and stood straight up.

“Speaking of going somewhere, I promise my mom to help with the machine shop, it is quite busy there.” Said Leo

“Well, look like all of us have plans,” Said Hazel sheepishly, “Sorry Percy, but you can hang out with Annabeth!”

Percy nodded like he understood and said, “It’s fine besides I got something for me and Annabeth to do.

“Okay then! Bye!” Said Piper, “Let’s go everybody!”

Everyone said their goodbyes and left. Annabeth swears that before Piper left, she had winked at her.

“So,” Said Percy as he looked at her, “Can I take you to somewhere where I think you would like it?”

“Of course, but with my broken leg…” Trailed off Annabeth

“Oh, it’s fine,” Said Percy, you could hear the disappointment in his voice.

Annabeth felt so bad, she could feel her heartbreak. Annabeth reached out and hugged Percy, inhaling his beach-like scent. Beep! Ringed her phone and that’s where Annabeth realized that Percy and she could still go to wherever he went to go.

“Wait, I have an idea,” Said Annabeth as she texted her dad if he could take them.

Annabeth squealed in excitement when her dad replied, with a yes. Annabeth told Percy and his sea-green eyes glinted with happiness and joy that Annabeth almost kissed him. But she didn’t.

Her dad pulled up in the car nearby them and Percy and Annabeth gathered their stuff and walked over there. Percy had requested for them to be dropped off close by but not to close by and her dad did so. Her dad told them he would pick them up by six and for them not to do anything… Annabeth and Percy blushed hard as they closed the door.

Percy then covered her eyes, to which Annabeth groaned but Percy told her it was the best. Percy led her through a crowd then uncovered his hand, to her surprise, it was a museum full of replicas of ancient architecture of Greeks and Roman.

Annabeth was happy and grateful for Percy that she wanted to kiss him.

And she did.

#percabeth #percy jackson #percy jackson au #percabeth au #nico di angelo #will solace #hazel levesque #frank zhang #jason grace #piper mclean #leo valdez #percy and annabeth #annabeth chase #annabeth pjo #renya #oneshot #best friends to lovers #i hope this is good

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dregstrash · 4 years

Note

Percabeth is amazing if you’re feeling up to it you should write some percabeth fluff lol they’re the cutest and We need some happiness in life

Listeennnn I just finished the Last Olympian and started reading the Lost Hero, and I can’t believe I forgot how much I dearly loved all of these demigods and just this universe. I’m remembering just how stressed I was when I read the Lost Hero for the first time and was wondering what happened to Percy and Annabeth, and just being happy rereading the Underwater Kiss scene. I literally have so many feelings.

And for writing fics.... honestly I just have this one scene in mind

For some reason Percy and Annabeth are doing some sword practice

They had some down time

And honestly why not

It started out pretty innocently

Their warm up was light and easy and there was only mild insults being thrown around

(”You’re getting soft, Seaweed Brain”)

(”I’m taking it easy on you, Wise Girl”)

It was when they started going through some practice drills that they started drawing more of a crowd

Percy didn’t really notice them until he saw that the empty amphitheater was suddenly occupied with a group of twenty campers

Some of them were the newly claimed demigods, and the others were some of their other friends were smirking down at them with mischievous gleams in their eyes

That’s when Percy should have been paying attention because just then a loud pang filled the outdoor space as Percy regained his balance and felt a sting in his shoulder

His attention focused back on Annabeth who was grinning in victory

he should have known being annabeth’s boyfriend wasn’t going to give him any kind of slack--if anything she pushed harder

“No fair!” Percy complained

Annabeth shrugged, “It’s fair if you’re the one who let down his guard.”

Percy gave a lopsided sort of smirk as he reassumed his fighting stance. Annabeth did the same, and they started to circle one another, waiting

“Wanna make this interesting, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth called so that her voice filled the space.

Percy won’t be distracted. Even if his brain chose this exact moment to notice that two blonde tendrils of hair had escaped Annabeth’s pony tail and framed her face perfectly.

Her gray eyes gleamed with a sort of dangerous light-- the kind that could either mean she was deciding which of the twenty ways she was going to rip you apart was the best or if she was having the best time of her life

Either way, Percy knew that it was kind of unfair for anyone to look that good with sweat and Greek armor on

“First to disarm does the other one’s chores for week?” She said.

Percy flashed to his list of chores, and as much as he loved Annabeth, there was no way he was going to let an entire chore-free week out of his grasp

“Deal.” Percy grinned before he attacked first

Here’s the thing. We know that Percy is a good swordsman-- probably the best swordsman, but he was also facing Annabeth

And he was at least smart enough to be on his toes as they exchanged parries and blows

Annabeth struck at Percy’s side and he dodged and crossed their blades to try to get her off balance.

She held firm and managed to push him back.

A cheer went up from the stands.

“Beat him up, Chase! I got five drachma on you!” Clarisse’s voice rose up from the crowd.

“You got this, Percy!” The voice belonged to one of the Stolls but Percy had trouble concentrating on the crowd when he was too busy trying not to get pinned into a corner.

In all honesty, the duel was pretty even. Annabeth was smart enough to keep Percy from using all of his sword fighting prowess, and using the expanse of the arena to try and wear Percy out. While Percy kept close watch on his guard, and looked for any openings he could

A few more parries and dodges, and Percy finally had some good ground

He lifted his sword ready to execute the move he had first learned at Camp Half-Blood when Annabeth did something truly surprising

She lifted both her arms and brought her sword down, pushing all of her balance to the front

It was a weak strategy--even for her, and Percy reflexively lifted his blade to meet hers

It brought their faces only inches apart, and before Percy knew it, she brought her lips to his

Like it always did when Annabeth kissed Percy, the whole world reduced to an insignificant mass.

He was still getting used to this side of Annabeth. This affection, this freedom, this glowing warm feeling that floated through him every time she was around. And if he was a little quicker with the uptake, he would have noticed how his sword arm went slack, and his sword clattered to the ground

A cheer went up from the crowd along with some groans, but all Percy could do was smile

Annabeth laughed as she raised both of her arms in the air and gave a small bow to the crowd.

“It would probably be useless to say that was cheating, right?” Percy said when they finally exited the sword arena hand in hand

“Probably. But look on the bright side,” Annabeth’s eyes twinkled, “Now you get to do my chores.”

Percy laughed because to be honest, he’d do a month’s worth of chores if that meant he’d still be able to hold Annabeth’s hand, hear her laugh, and have her kiss him again

Besides he could always challenge her double or nothing in their next sword practice

He might even try her winning strategy

#percabeth #percy and annabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #this was kind of fun #i also miss them a lot

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adarlingwrites · 3 years

Text

Absolution

Summary:

noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment

The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who's willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.

XVI

December 28, 2277.

I landed on the gravel. The ringing in my ears made it hard to hear anything, and the blood in my eyes made it hard to see, but clear as day, Percy was screaming, kicking the merc responsible for shooting me in the back.

It must’ve hit my spine. I can’t move my limbs.

Straining, I tilt my neck to see Percy leaning against the wall for support, smashing her foot against the bastard’s face, stomping him over and over until his brain splattered on the floor. DeLoria was holding his head between his hands, distraught, and he heaved, puking his breakfast this morning.

“Shit…”

“Welcome to the fucking wasteland Butch,” Percy huffs, dragging the soles of her shoes to get the bits of brains out.

I roll my head to face the ceiling, silently thanking whatever the hell is watching over us for allowing me to see her safe one more time.

My eyelids are getting heavy. I’m fading.

The only thing keeping me was Percy’s voice.

“Charon, hang in there!”

“Percy, oh my God, he’s dying! What do we do?”

“Grab our gear, Butch. We gotta get him to a doctor.”

I feel weightless, surrounded by Percy’s familiar warmth.

“Shit, are you sure you can carry him all by yourself?”

“Just listen to what I say, Butch!”

“Wait, wait! Rivet City’s the other way around.”

“We’re not going to Rivet City.”

I was ready to go. There are not a lot of good things I’ve done in my lifetime, but protecting this angel? One of the best things I ever did.

“Help! Somebody help us!”

“Tourist? What the fuck happened?!”

“We got jumped…”

“Barrows! Charon’s dying!”

There are some regrets I have, like never figuring out what I really feel for her, or telling her how much I’m fond of her.

“Weak pulse… Blood loss is severe... we’re losing him.”

“Put us in with the Glowing Ones.”

“Radiation is harmful to you humans, and there’s no guarantee that it will help him.”

“Doc, please, just put us in.”

“Nurse Graves, chain the test subjects.”

Still, to spend my last few minutes in her arms would’ve been a consolation.

I would’ve been content dying now.

??? ??, ????

“Mama, where are they taking us?”

Her hands run through my hair, the metal of her handcuffs cold against my forehead, and hushes me.

“Stay quiet Artyom. We’ll be fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Please don’t worry, little one. Do you want me to sing to you?”

I nod. Mama starts singing the lullaby she usually sings to me.

Near the end, I understand why she loved singing it to me.

“Da, gotovyas v boi apasniy, pomni mat' svayu.”

I need to stay strong for her.

“Spi, mladyenets, moi prekrasniy, bayushki bayu.”

There’s only the two of us now my father’s gone.

The automobile stopped and the men in uniform made us step out. One of them rips me from my mother’s grasp and I start to cry, reaching for her.

“Artyom, I need you to stay strong until this is over. I’ll get you back.”

“That’s enough. The courts have determined that this child is under our custody now,” the big man in uniform tells her, and he blocked me from getting to her. Using both my hands, I reached through the man’s arm to grasp my mother’s hand, not wanting to let go.

“Mama? Mama, what’s going on?”

My hands slip from hers as I get grabbed by one of the men.

“The court’s decision isn’t final! I have a lawyer, and she will prove that what you’re doing is a violation of our rights! I’ll get my son back!”

“Until that can be determined in the next hearing, this child will be staying with us. Now if you’ll excuse us, Mrs. Volkov.”

I bit the hand that kept me away from my mother and ran to her, throwing myself against her leg. She ducked to give me a hug, the last one we’ll ever share, and guided me towards the big men in uniform.

That was the first and last time she ever hurt me.

“Artyom, I’ll look for you! I promise. Your Auntie Katya will help us.”

“Ma, I’m scared!”

“Stay strong for me, little one. I love you!”

“Don’t leave me!”

I never saw her again.

That night was the last time I ever heard my mother’s lullaby. In the cold cell they put me in, I cried on my cot, humming the song to myself.

Across me, a girl my age was standing behind the bars of hers, holding a teddy bear in one hand, and extending the other one to me. Her hair was the darkest shade of black I’ve ever seen, and her eyes are dark, hiding behind her glasses. A kind smile is on her face.

“Hey, big guy.”

I left my cot to reach out for her, our fingers touching.

“Stay with me.”

I blink, and my hands are big, with exposed muscle, joints, and tendons, and they’re touching the girl’s fingers. Now a woman’s fingers. Percy’s fingers.

“Charon, stay with me.”

I blink again, and I’m not in the detention cell anymore.

??? ??, 2277.

My hand flies to my face, and it’s no longer bloody nor wet with tears. I can move my limbs again. Rubbing my eyes, my vision’s starting to get clearer. I sit up, taking in my surroundings. It’s dark.

I can see Percy sleeping on the gurney next to me, breathing slowly, thanks to the soft green glow in the corner of the room. Her fingers are entwined with my free hand’s.

The radiation coming from the Glowing Ones comforted my insides, warmth seeping through my bones. Outside, I see Doctor Barrows observing us, writing something in his clipboard. He moves to turn on the lights in the room, and the door to the room clicks softly.

“Charon. I’m glad to see you’re awake. You’ve been unconscious for days. Your human friend brought you here to save your life,” he greets me.

“What day is it?”

“December 31st.”

“What’s Percy doing in here? The radiation will kill her,” I rasp, watching her sleeping form.

“Percy suggested that we put the two of you in this chamber. She’s healing from the radiation too. Look closely at her scrapes and wounds.”

I blinked at the doctor. My eyes flick to Percy, and in the dim green glow, I saw it; her skin knitting itself back together, the wounds that would take weeks to heal fading. Damn, there aren’t even scars.

I think of the pain I went through when I was turning. I wouldn’t wish that on her.

“Is she… is she starting to become one of us?”

“I’m afraid I cannot share patient information with you unless she consents.”

I nod.

Though we kept our voices low, Percy stirred awake, rubbing her eyes and reaching for her glasses. Then, she sat up and looked around, panicked. When her eyes flicked to mine, she drags herself off the bed and throws her arms around me.

“Charon, you’re okay,” she whispers, voice breaking. Her small hands pet what little hair I had on my head, and I can feel myself on the verge of crying again.

When did I ever allow myself to display this much emotion?

Travelling with her really changed me, huh?

Doc Barrows clears his throat. “I’ll go fetch the results of the tests I ran on you, Percy.”

“Thanks again for helping us, doc.”

“It’s my pleasure. Lots of people here would be sad to see you two go.”

Percy squeezes my hand. Sighing, she draws her legs to her chest, looking pensive. Then, we heard gentle knocks on the door.

“Come in,” Percy calls out.

Doc Barrows returns to the room, bringing the clipboard with him.

“Would you prefer some doctor-patient confidentiality, or are you comfortable with discussing this in front of Charon?”

Percy’s eyes flick towards me. “I have no blood relatives left, and Charon’s the closest thing I have to next of kin. If something were to happen to me, he should know.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard of the news about your father. My condolences, Percy.”

She nods.

“Thanks doc. I should probably write a will.”

“Yes, that would be wise. Now, where were we?”

Barrows flips through the paper, and beside me, I see the tenseness in Percy’s shoulders again.

“Ah, yes, the results. Persephone, your DNA has a mutation that makes your cells to heal continuously when exposed to a certain dose of radiation.”

“So, doc, does that mean I’m turning ghoul?”

“Surprisingly, no. You’re not exhibiting symptoms of ghoulification. I’ve never seen anything quite like this mutation… it’s almost like it’s engineered. Is there anything in your medical history involving radiation exposure that I should know?”

Percy furrows her brow, thinking.

“A few months back, I volunteered for an experiment while writing the Wasteland Survival Guide with Moira Brown. I, uh, agreed to intentionally irradiate myself to 600 rads. She made me take an experimental cure. More details about it are published in the book.”

Huh, I remember that. Percy was feverish for days after contracting an illness from the dirty, irradiated water she drank for the experiment. I thought it foolish, risking her health like that for a damn book.

“Do you have a copy with you?”

“No, sorry. It’s in Megaton. Moira said that she’s been selling copies to caravans though. Quinn might come across one.”

“I’ll make it a point to ask him to look for one. Thank you for allowing me to study your DNA, Miss Zhou. This might help my research on ghoul physiology.”

“I’m glad to help.”

The doctor turns to leave the room. With another soft click, the doctor closes the door behind him.

“I just lost dad. I thought I was going to lose you too,” Percy whispers against my shoulder, where she buried her face as soon as the doctor turned around.

I was going to embrace her too, but I remember what happened in the metro, the mercs forcing me to admit what my body felt for hers. She must’ve sensed my hesitation to touch her. Percy pulls away from me and gives me a concerned frown.

“Is there something wrong?”

“How can you still be comfortable to be around me after what you’ve heard me say in the metro?”

I cannot discern the emotion on her face, but Percy’s shoulders sagged. I know it’s not positive. But then, she gives me a hesitant smile.

“Charon… I always knew.”

What? What the hell?

“Hey big guy, my eyesight isn’t the best and I can be unaware of my surroundings at times, but I could feel your eyes linger on me more than necessary.”

She knew all this time?

Dammit. How fucking embarrassing.

“If you wish to sell my contract after this, I won’t hold it against you.”

Percy laughs, patting my shoulder.

“Ha, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. You’re a healthy and virile male, or what passes as such for a ghoul. It’s a normal physiological response, Charon.”

Spoken like a true doctor. Of course she’d be open-minded like that, what did I expect?

“Besides, though we’re friends, I’m your primary health care provider, and you’re my employee. It would be unethical to act on those urges… for the both of us.”

Oh. James’ words before he passed must’ve finally sunk in.

“Of course.”

Wait. ‘For both of us?’ A part of me thinks she sounds like she’s only trying to convince herself.

No. No, I shouldn’t allow myself to linger on such thoughts. James is right.

That’s out of the question.

February 9, 2278.

What do I plan to do about what I feel for her when she wakes up?

Now that’s a question I would’ve answered differently a few months ago. I would’ve said that I wouldn’t act on it. But now?

“I shall wait until she mentions something about it.”

DeLoria rolls his eyes. Anything he was about to say next was interrupted when the doors opened, and a distraught Dr. Li is following a fully conscious Sarah Lyons.

Shit. Here we go.

“Sarah, please, only your father is authorized to see her,” Dr. Li pleads, but to no avail.

“Why are you keeping her from the Brotherhood, doctor? What happened to Percy?”

“This is something I cannot share with you due to doctor-patient confidentiality.”

Butch and I got up from our spot and stood guard. Lyons sees us, fuming, glaring daggers at the doctor.

“How am I not allowed to see an honorary member of the Lyons Pride but outsiders can? Who authorized this?”

“Your father did,” Dr. Li said, massaging her temples. “This is a delicate situation for Persephone. For everyone. You didn’t see the episode her ghoul companion had when one of your initiates tried to separate him from her.”

“Right, of course,” she replies, looking at me with disdain. I hold her gaze as a silent challenge, and she tears it away from me, directing it towards Butch.

Part of me is thankful that Lyons didn’t say anything about what she witnessed before Percy ran in the purifier.

“And this kid over here?”

Butch scowls at her. “Hey! I’m not a-”

“I let him in because I needed someone to procure supplies that might not be available in the Citadel,” Dr. Li replies, eyes darting back and forth between the two of us. She’s lying, but it seems that the blonde isn’t picking it up.

“Uh, yeah! Yeah, I go to Rivet City sometimes to pick stuff up for the doc.”

Lyons sighs. “Just let me see her.”

Dr. Li nods grimly and motions for us to let her see Percy. Lyons shoves the plastic curtains aside and takes a long hard look at Percy.

“How?! I don’t understand. She looks fine for someone who… ”

“Sentinel Lyons, is there something I need to know as Percy’s doctor?”

“The explosion didn’t come from inside the purifier.”

Dr. Li’s eyes widened, sweating bullets. Butch was looking at Lyons with a raised eyebrow, but my eyes are locked on Li. I’m sensing that whatever she was hiding from me is related to what Lyons is about to say.

“The explosion came from Percy.”

If it wasn’t for the gravity of the situation and the fucking bomb Lyons just dropped, I would’ve laughed at the look of Butch’s face right now.

“How the hell is that possible?” Butch asks.

“Lyons, you just came out of a coma. Are you sure-”

“I know what I saw, Dr. Li. Percy was glowing green. Then a goddamn mushroom cloud erupted from her, like someone dropped a mini-nuke in the area using a Fat Man.”

Dr. Li’s groans and rubs her face.

“Please, let’s keep this confidential, Sentinel.”

“Confidential? She might be a safety hazard if she ends up exploding here in the Citadel.”

As the doctor and the sentinel argued, my eyes shifted to Percy.

Angel, what are you?

“Da, gotovyas v boi apasniy, pomni mat' svayu.” - Think, when bracing for fierce battle, of your mother true.

“Spi, mladyenets, moi prekrasniy, bayushki bayu.” - Sleep, my dear, beloved baby, bayushki-bayu.

I just wanna say that Nerd Rage and Nuclear Anomaly are very fun perks for roleplaying.

#lone wanderer #female lone wanderer #charon #fallout charon #charon fallout #fallout 3 charon #charon fallout 3 #butch deloria #oc: percy zhou #fanfic: absolution #series: through river acheron #fallout #fallout 3 #fallout fanfic #writers on tumblr

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solangelodeathlysunshine · 4 years

Text

The end of everything we know

Percy dragged Nico with him to pick up Annabeth front the airport. She has just landed in the airport and was about to go on the plane back home. 2 flights in one day just to see Percy for the weekend. That thought made Percy happy. He hasn't seen her since the start of the summer, she was with her father in San Francisco, getting ready for the last year in school. Nico looked grumpy the whole ride to the airport. He was talking about Bianca for the first time in... Well, ever. Percy was surprised when he started to talk about her at the start of the ride. "You know, when Bianca and I moved here from Italy we thought we'd fly a lot more often, but she never lived long enough to do that..." Nico sounded sad so Percy put on Heroes by David Bowie. Nico stopped talking and listened. Percy even saw a tear running down his cheek. Nico was quite for the rest of the ride, listening to Heroes on repeat and drawing Bianca in his sketchbook. Percy wanted to hear more about Bianca, they never really got a chance to talk and it made him sad. He saw her die and he barely knew her, Nico knew her his whole life and didn't even get the chance to say goodbye properly. When they arrived at the airport Annabeth was supposed to be there already but there was no sign to the blonde girl. Nico seemed sadder. "Percy...."

"I know, I know, she's late but she'll be here. Just a second."

"No Percy... You don't understand."

"Nico just wait jeez."

"PERCY!" Nico shouted.

"What?!"

"She's... She's not coming." Nico teared up again. "I feel it."

"No... No no no." Percy shook his head tearing up too. "No it can't be. It can't be..."

"Percy -"

"No you're mistaking." Percy said, but deep down he knew Nico was right. Annabeth was gone. "We can ask someone. We have to."

"It just happened, Percy, they don't know yet."

"No..." Percy's voice broke. He fell to his knees, crying. Nico didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry Percy."

Percy was shocked. The last time he saw her she kissed him goodbye and said see you later seaweed brain. If only she'd know there was no "later". Not for them.

On the way back Nico called Hazel and told her they'll have to meet, both camps. Percy couldn't drive so they called Sally. She came and hugged Percy. "She's gone." Percy said, all chocked up. "She didn't deserve this." Percy was shocked. He stared at the ground and then at Sally. "What do I do? She was everything."

Sally drove them to the camp. Camp Jupiter was already there, sitting together, waiting for Percy and Nico to come and tell the news. When they saw them coming they all ran towards them, until they saw their faces and stopped. "What happened?" Chiron asked.

Percy looked at the sea. He didn't know what happened. He just knew he was lost. "Annabeth." His voice broke again and he cried. "She's gone."

Everyone looked at Percy. Clarisse came out of the crowd and hugged Percy. "It'll be okay Percy, you'll be okay." Everyone was too shocked to point out that Clarisse and Percy were hugging.

After everyone left Percy alone he came into cabin seven. Malcolm stood up and took Percy aside. "Hey, I know she meant a lot to you. I'm sorry." Percy remembered how Malcolm came into the cabin 3 years ago and saw him hugging Annabeth. He would give anything to go back there and kiss her. "We'll give you some time alone, you know, to give her a last look." They left Percy alone in the cabin. He looked at her bed. It was clean like no one ever stayed there. He looked under it and saw the computer Daidlus gave her and a carton box. He took it out and opened it. Inside he saw pictures of them together, the tickets to the movie they were supposed to see 3 years ago until he set his school on fire, a purple coral she must've picked when they kissed underwater and a necklace with a blue stone hanging from it, a birthday gift she got for her seventeenth birthday from Percy.

Percy couldn't sleep that night. Around 4am he heard a knock on his door. It was Nico. He said they can summon Annabeth and say a final goodbye. They walked into the woods and dug a hole. When ghosts appeared Percy looked for Annabeth. He didn't know what she would look like because she was a ghost now but when he felt like he found her he let her drink and eat from the hole. It was indeed Annabeth. She looked at Percy and cried. She had a big scratch on her stomach and chest, from the monster that killed her at the airport. She looked at Percy sadly and tried to touch his hand but it just went through his. "Percy... I'm sorry."

Percy looked at her and cried. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I should have been there with you."

"Percy don't say that, please, there's nothing you could have done."

"I miss you. It's hard without you here. It's weird waking up and not seeing you here."

"Percy I-"

"Percy, Annabeth," Nico said. "I'm sorry but you have to do it faster or monsters will find us."

"Annabeth..."

"Iove you seaweed brain." She started to flicker.

"Don't go-"

"Goodbye Percy Jackson."

"Goodbye wise girl."

Annabeth smiled one last time, and Percy cried. Then she disappeared and Nico collapsed. Percy cought him before he hit the ground. He sat there until the sun came up, crying, looking at the grave and calling Annabeth's name, but she disappeared with the rest of the ghosts. Forever.

At the funeral Percy sat next to Piper. She looked at him sadly. "It's funny, you know, how bad things happen to good people. She didn't deserve this. Neither did Jason. We both lost our first loves and our best friends."

He looked at her. She knew what he was going through and she was right. "I wish we could go back to Argo II. When they were still here. We're only four now. It's the end of everything we know."

The seven, now four, gathered around the grave and thought about the last time they were there. Another year of grieving and trying to heal. Trying to keep busy and not think about the fallen hero. They knew it was going to be hard but they had to do it. For their best friends, they had to be heroes, just for one day.

Hi so I know this is very long but if you have time read it (unless you don't wanna be sad)

#pjoverse #pjo fandom #pjo/hoo #pjo #annabeth chase #percy and annabeth #percabeth #pjo fanfic #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson #piper mclean #jason grace #leo valdez #nico di angelo #hazel levesque #frank zhang

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braveskyered · 4 years

Text

Knights (Part 17)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

As mentioned before, please be aware that there may be some topics from here on out that you as a reader will find uncomfortable. Elaborating what they are in the beginning will be considered spoilers.

Do remember that this story is a work of fiction. Any similarities between characters or events to persons - living or dead - in our real world are purely coincidental.

Only those that have understood and thus agreed to the above have the privilege of continuing to read Knights to the very end with a clear head.

Do you understand?

Yes ←

Should you feel a trigger of fear within your mind and yet you do not know why, ask yourself this question:

What exactly are you afraid of?

Never forget that fear is to be confronted with determination, not through running away.

You do wish to move on from your trauma.

...Right?

Part 17: And You Got, You Got Me Begging Please

- - - - - - -

Arthur isn’t sure how to feel realizing that Elaine had fallen asleep on him again.

Elaine’s breathing became slow and even. She had one of her arms wrapped around his waist, her free hand gently grasping one of his own. Luckily, the TV remote is between them, allowing Arthur to turn down the volume so that it wouldn’t disturb her.

They have been dating for almost a year now, and as time kept passing, Arthur could always recall a sensation that he had trouble naming. All he knew was that he always had it upon feeling the rhythm of Elaine’s heartbeat, which would always attract his attention enough to where he could feel nothing else.

He had a hunch on what it is that he is feeling, but he always denied it. It couldn’t be, because he knew that he didn’t deserve such wonderful thoughts.

I love her. I love Elaine.

The horror that Arthur felt right after that thought process became a chill that would never fade. Never in all his time living has he ever told anyone those three special words in a romantic way, nor has he ever felt the desire to want to hold someone so tightly. Even though—No. He wasn’t sure if it was even possible for him. What did they call it? Being asexual, or ace, or… something? A romantic, or… aromantic? Wait… What was the difference between them all again?

After a brief moment of pondering, Arthur gave up trying to figure out the specifics. It doesn’t change the fact that these strange feelings swirling in his mind are beginning to hurt so much…

No. He won’t go there. It’s wrong. It wouldn’t work.

The feeling of something squeezing his heart became stronger. It wouldn’t allow him to breathe easily, and the terror he felt wouldn’t go away. He shivered as he looked around nervously, his breath shaky. The wraith could be lurking anywhere, waiting for the perfect opportunity to take him back to Tempo. To hurt Elaine and torture him even more to suffer pain and despair all over again.

He felt Elaine’s grip on his hand tighten slightly, snapping him out of his fear, however briefly.

“My star.”

He blinked at her upon seeing her look up at him with a smile on her face.

“You’re crying.”

Was he? Elaine cupped his cheek with her hand and rubbed away a tear with her thumb, the smile never waning. Arthur just didn’t understand. Why has Elaine always been so kind? So supportive?

No, he knew the reason why. He just isn’t ready to accept it.

“I love you, Arthur,” Elaine chuckled before moving to kiss some of Arthur’s tears away and whispered into his ear, “You know that, right?”

He does know, and it’s too good to be true. This is a happiness that he never thought he could have. He never knew that being loved like this would be…

You don’t deserve it.

He is aware of his sins, and all the pain, suffering, sadness, and despair that he had been through in his vain attempts to atone will never go away. He knew that he doesn’t deserve to be loved, but he knew that he couldn’t obey the wraith in that regard anymore.

You have no right.

He never knew that being loved like this would be so warm, so gentle.

“Do I… Do I have the right to love you back?”

Elaine only laughed before staring at him lovingly.

“I say you do, my star.”

Upon hearing those words, he knew that he had to accept what is now his new reality.

“Then… I love you, too.”

Her smile and gentle laughter is a sight he never wanted to forget.

I love her. I love Elaine.

He gave in to her embrace. It feels so warm and comforting.

And she loves me back.

He couldn’t remember the last time he cried happy tears.

- - - - - - -

There is nowhere to run.

“Arthur, I…”

There is nowhere to hide.

“What we did was…”

There is nowhere to escape to.

“I know you won’t forgive us.”

All he does in Tempo, or anywhere, is inflict pain and suffering on others, all for simply existing.

He knew that. He was told that. Constantly.

“YOU KILLED HIM!”

It didn’t matter that he never wanted it to happen.

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

It didn’t matter that he could only apologize.

“IF ONLY YOU DIDN’T EXIST, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!”

It didn’t matter what he did to atone.

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!

“Arthur, I was wondering…”

YOU HAVE NO RIGHT.

“Will you--”

…

“N-No. I’m sorry, I can’t…”

…

Arthur is roused from his sleep when he felt a gentle nudge. Opening his eyes, he saw that Elaine is next to him and awake, giving him the look that he knew and loved. He began to turn over to embrace her, but then he felt a weight press against his left side. He looked down and was greeted by the sight of Vivian asleep between him and Elaine.

Carefully, Arthur repositioned himself. He is on his side and brushed a few strands from his daughter’s face with his only hand.

With the way things are now, Arthur could never allow himself to sleep peacefully. The nightmares kept on coming, the painful memories of the persecution and hatred that was forced upon him, and all the regrets kept pounding at him in full force. Even on the days when he could sleep without the nightmares, the fear always remained.

But he knew it would’ve been a lot worse had it not been for his family.

For some reason, Arthur felt a tear trickle out from his eye. He assumed it was because he yawned too deeply.

Elaine muttered as she stroked Vivian’s head, “Our little girl, isn’t she wonderful?”

“As wonderful as Gwen and Percy are,” Arthur said.

Elaine giggled. The two then paused upon hearing a quiet moan, and immediately focused on their youngest daughter. Vivian started to shift, then opened her eyes and yawned.

“Good morning, little Vivian,” Elaine moved to position herself, all so she could on her elbows and gently nudged her daughter’s shoulder with affection, “It’s morning.”

“Mama…” Vivian’s face scrunched up as she mumbled, “Daddy…”

“Daddy is here, Vivian,” Arthur whispered as he used his only hand to gently hold Vivian’s own, “It’s time to wake up.”

Within moments, Vivian became fully awake. When she turned to Arthur, she grinned.

“No bad dreams allowed, Daddy.”

Arthur sat up upon hearing those words and stared at her.

Did… Did Vivian know what was happening? He couldn’t deny that whenever Vivian came to sleep beside him, the nightmares would cease, but… Was she doing this deliberately? Did she know what she was doing? Is she even capable of manipulating dreams?

“Something wrong, my knight?”

Arthur told Elaine what he thought, “I mean, I’ve been able to sleep well despite everything for the past few days, but…”

“If Vivian really is capable of doing that, then this requires further investigation,” Elaine sat up and held their daughter close, “Regardless, I know our darling Vivian just wants her wonderful daddy to be happy.”

Vivian giggled while looking proud of herself.

Arthur patted his daughter’s head before getting out of bed.

“Oh, I forgot to mention this before you fell asleep, but Gwen and Percy got your current arm fixed last night. After you put it on, what say we walk around town a bit? We won’t go to Kingsmen Mechanics today. Well, that, and Aunt Morgan said that she didn’t want Lance and Belle to see you until they went through a quote-on-quote “day of self-reflection,’ so to speak,” Elaine said as she used her hands to make air quotes, “So she’s over there now making sure they properly understand what they did regarding that stunt they pulled yesterday.”

Arthur isn’t sure if he should be sorry for what his uncle and Belle will be going through, since Morgan can be rather temperamental in more ways than one. He couldn’t help but recall one incident a few years ago back when Vivian was around six months old and they had no choice but to use a daycare service… and wisely decided not to think about it too hard when it resulted in the closure of three childcare facilities around Cantabile and its neighboring city as a result. That was something.

“Trust me, she tore them a new one. They won’t make the same mistake again.”

Leave it to Morgan to make her words stick. Still, Arthur couldn’t help but feel bad about…

“By the way, if you’re worried about Cayenne Pepper, I got word from Aunt Morgan that she’s been taken to the hospital last night and is on proper watch. From what Aunt Morgan gathered, the whole staff knows Cayenne at this point.”

…well, at least there’s that. Whatever happened to the Pepper family isn’t something for him to be concerned about. They hated him for killing Lewis, for ripping their family apart, and wanted him gone from their lives.

So Arthur left, just like they wanted.

Despite what his uncle had said, what Belle had cried and broken down about, and what Cayenne had done last night, Arthur couldn’t bring himself to believe any of them. He had already lost his place as a citizen of Tempo after being rejected.

“Daddy, I love you.”

He turned to look at Vivian and smiled.

“I love you, too.”

He knew not to think about the past, as it’s all behind him now. He decided to check on Gwen and Percy and see how his current prosthetic arm is.

After only two days, he truly wanted to feel the warmth of his family with both of his arms once and forever again.

- - - - - - -

“You know, for a desert town, this is actually quite nice.”

Under normal circumstances, Arthur would have agreed with Elaine as they were sitting on a bench outside the hotel’s entrance with Vivian in between them. However, after everything had gone wrong after Lewis died, Tempo had become all but a prison for him. The thought of this town becoming a prison for his family made him uncomfortable and tried to shove the mental image.

“But personally, I prefer the free range of the mountains back home,” Elaine said as she traced at the seams of Arthur’s sleeve with a finger, “It’s much less lonely, you know?”

“I feel the mountains are more protective,” Arthur said as he placed his hand over hers, “It felt safe. For me and the kids.”

“And it always will be,” Elaine smiled before pulling out the map on her phone, “It says here that there’s a few places we could look at, Tome Tomb being one of them. After that, what say we stop at that pizza place you told us about? I never thought we’d see the day where we all get to try the original Surf’s Up Surprise pizza.”

While Arthur felt really unsure about walking around Tempo out in the open, Elaine did assure him that she will not let anyone try to pull a similar stunt compared to what Lance and Belle did yesterday. Still, he didn’t think about packing a hat or anything similar before they left home. He does have a couple of scarves that he uses to help hide the faint burn scars around his neck, with the turtleneck sweater he is currently wearing, he doesn’t have a reason to use one. Of course, he could wrap one around his head, but not only is that not his style, it basically just screams “I’m in disguise,” so he knew for a fact that it wouldn’t be a good idea.

Gwen and Percy were still in the process of getting ready in their hotel room. Arthur did feel a little put off by the bandage that is on Percy's left cheek, but he chose not to press further when he was told that the boy had gotten into a fight with a wild animal, which isn't unusual. One would call it a gut feeling, but Arthur felt that there was something more than what actually happened yesterday when Elaine went to retrieve them.

In the end, Arthur couldn't care. He's just happy that his family, his light, his little mechanics, and his little girl are all safe from harm. He briefly felt a tug on his sleeve, and he smiled before lifting Vivian into his lap with both arms. Vivian giggled before hugging him, and as Arthur brushed his hand through his daughter's hair, he realized that he had forgotten to ask Elaine something.

"Hey, did you see this last night? It still feels a little cold."

He had Vivian turn her head for Elaine to see the section of their daughter's hair that's been cut.

"Oh, you also noticed that?" Elaine winced briefly before nodding with a straight face, "But yes, I did. I had Aunt Morgan look at her, and we think that once the ice magic around it wears off, it'll grow back."

"Ice magic?"

"Gwen. She wasn't able to figure out how to remove it yet. We know it's weakening, so it shouldn't be too much longer. Fortunately, Vivian can use the rest of her hair, so she won't be completely defenseless."

That made Arthur smile a little in amusement, "They got a little too rowdy, didn't they?"

Elaine held a look of annoyance and shrugged, "Yeah. It was. I've already talked with them about it, so you don't need to worry about anything. I ask that you don't bring it up with them, since they're a little embarrassed about it. But you know, kids being kids."

"You know we love them anyway," he smirked at her.

"Gee, thanks, Dad. We love you, too."

Arthur and Elaine looked forward and saw Gwen and Percy in front of them, both looking amused.

“You two about ready to go?” Elaine asked as she stood up, then turned to Arthur, “I can hold her.”

The twins nodded, and soon Arthur stood up and handed over Vivian to Elaine.

- - - - - - -

It’s strange.

Even though Arthur used to live here over seventeen years ago, and he still remembered the general area pretty well, he actually felt like he was walking around Tempo with his family like a group of tourists would. Would other people feel like this? He isn’t sure if Elaine would have the same feeling since she has lived in Cantabile in her entire life.

He had to admit, a part of him did wonder how life would have been if things hadn’t gone wrong.

“Thinking about something, my star?” Elaine smiled.

Arthur blinked and saw that the children were busy looking into a window of a sweets shop Arthur didn’t recognize. Looking over at Elaine, he shrugged, “I was just thinking about… possible outcomes we could’ve had.”

“Such as?”

“Like how you and I would’ve never met in Cantabile if I didn’t have Galahad. If that didn’t happen, I don’t know how we would’ve ever crossed paths. You don’t have a reason to ever come here in Tempo for a job by yourself, so we never would’ve met that way,” Arthur just kept rambling, shaking his head and shrugging, “Even back when I was a part of the Mystery Skulls, we never actually went further beyond the Mississippi River when going East, so the chances of them, or… technically ‘us’ back then, encountering your family would be rather… low.”

“Did the Mystery Skulls try to exorcise or exterminate any ghosts and monsters back then?” Elaine asked.

“Only the ones that were truly dangerous,” Arthur ran his fingers through his hair in thought before speaking again, “Back then, Vivi and Mystery weren’t that… eager to eliminate monsters. If anything, on Vivi’s end, she would just marvel at them and try to record a much information a she can, while Mystery made sure that she was safe. I really don’t know what made them change their stance on that.”

Before Elaine could respond, Gwen called out to them to ask if they could look at the candy with them to see which would be acceptable for Vivian to eat.

Both Arthur and Elaine looked at one another and nodded, then went into the shop with their children to see what treats all of them could enjoy.

They could always continue their conversation on that sore subject when they get home.

- - - - - - - -

Where… where are they?!

How could he have been so careless? To look away for one moment is what gave the chance for his family to disappear from his sights! This is bad…

Under any other circumstance, Arthur wouldn’t have worried as much. But this is Tempo, the town that had become a personal hell for him so long ago, and he did not want the children to be trapped like he had. He isn’t too worried about Gwen and Percy, because they’re old enough to find their way around places. Plus, the two of them have their own cell phones, so he quickly texted them and Elaine to find a place so they can reunite. But he knew that no one was holding Vivian’s hand the last he saw, and who knows where she could have gone.

Wait… Vivian can always just teleport to him, right? They’re not near the camper, and she doesn’t have any charms that could prevent her from trying to do that unless she’s too far away— but what if she can’t?!

His phone vibrated, and he quickly read the message. It’s from Gwen.

I found Percy. We’re on our way to the pizza place. See you there.

That’s a relief, but where’s Vivian? He put his phone back in his pocket and started to make his way to the restaurant that made the pizza he and his family loved so much.

“Wait… Arthur?”

No words could ever describe the chill that had frozen Arthur in his tracks at the sight of the woman in blue in front of him. It can’t be who he thinks it is. Just pretend that he doesn’t know and keep walking. Just pretend that Arthur isn’t his name--

Something threw itself against him.

“Arthur, it’s you! It really is you!”

The sound of the joyous laughter and the feeling of being hugged tightly should’ve been a happy moment. But the familiar shape of the woman, the voice, the familiar color of blue—

You are not to talk to her.

No. No. No. No no no no… no no no no… no no no no… No… No… No… No…

You are not to go near her.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no--!

YOU ARE NOT TO--

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO

NONONONONONONONONONONO--!

He screamed. He flailed. He shoved. He ran. He cried.

He has to get away. He’ll be burned. The fire hurts. He’ll be burned. Burned!

The pleas that attempted to reach his ears he tried to ignore. He can’t be near her. No, no! The wraith hates it when that happens and why did this have to happen and--

Elaine! Elaine. Where is Elaine? Gwen. Percy. Vivian. Where are Gwen, Percy, and Vivian? Where, where, where are they? Where where where where where are they?!

He’s still being pursued. He has to run. Run! Run or the wraith will punish him! Get away... He has to get away! He has to hide. Hide. Hide. Hide! Hide in a corner or just escape somewhere!

He found a place to hide. He has to call Elaine. Elaine. Elaine! Why can’t he dial?! Why must his fingers be shaking?! Did he hit the call button?!

“Daddy?”

The little voice pierced through the swirls of fear and madness that plagued Arthur’s mind. Looking down, he saw Vivian clinging to his pant leg. He quickly knelt down to place his hands on her shoulders and looked over her for any injuries. He didn't find anything, much to his relief.

“Arthur!”

He looked up fearfully to see Vivi Yukino standing nearby, looking out of breath. Wearing a dark blue coat with a lighter blue scarf, she looked like she was seeing the best sight of her life, judging from her smile. However, upon seeing Vivian, her smile quickly faded and soon looked hostile.

“You— AUGH!”

Before Arthur could process what just happened, Vivian floated in front of him and roughly slapped Vivi away with her hair.

“You little…!” Vivi growled, “Get away from Arthur, you monster!”

Vivian didn’t say anything as multiple rocks and pebbles from the ground quickly floated around her. With the movement of her arms, she sent the projectiles to Vivi’s direction, forcing the latter to back away.

What… What is going on? Arthur kept clinging to his head. What is happening?

The sound of Vivian screaming in pain, a sound she never made before, snapped Arthur back to reality. Looking up, he saw— WHY IS THE FOX THERE?! It has his daughter pinned to the ground. Immediately, he saw red and rushed forward. He has to get his daughter before the monster could eat her. The fox’s many tails roughly shoved him back.

“Stay back, Arthur! We’ll handle this!”

MYSTERY.

No no no no no--!

"Get off our sister!"

A blur of gold rushed past him before the sound of a fox screeching in pain filled his ears. Vivian is free, and Arthur wasted no time to rush to his daughter’s side and examined her for injuries. A few scuffs on her arms, but thankfully he didn’t see any blood. Vivian shook her head and looked up at Arthur before turning her attention to the chaos before them. When Arthur followed Vivian’s gaze, he saw a familiar golden-furred kitsune with a single tail attacking Mystery, his mouth tightly clamped at the back of the fox’s neck while attempting to scratch at its face with his claws.

“Percy…” Arthur whispered as he reached out to his son, “Get away…”

Elaine… where are you?

“You again?!” Vivi screeched as she somehow has a metal baseball bat in her possession and slammed Percy off of Mystery, “You’re not welcome here, monster!”

Mystery immediately saw Arthur holding Vivian.

“Arthur! Get away from that--!”

For some reason it felt oddly satisfying to see Mystery getting kicked in the face by a familiar yuki-onna. Before Vivi could strike back, the yuki-onna immediately transformed into a large black wolf and rammed her away from Percy.

“Gwen…” Arthur tried to reach out for his older daughter, “Stop… You have to run…”

Elaine… where are you?!

Vivi and Mystery charged forward, but now Vivian growled and flew straight at them with Gwen and Percy joining in the fight.

“That’s quite enough.”

A booming voice rang out as some sort of reflective magic forced the two fighting parties apart, enough to knock Vivi and Mystery off their feet. The children backed off immediately and returned to Arthur’s side, the wolf to his left and the fox to his right, with the youngest in his arms. The downed Mystery Skulls struggled to rise, but Arthur soon saw a greenish-blue aura surrounding them as they started to float upward, much to their shock.

“I must say, you have quite the nerve to attack my family unprovoked. Unforgivable, if you ask me.”

Arthur looked up and a large white nine-tailed fox that is larger than the other eight-tailed fox glaring at Vivi and Mystery’s direction, her body emitting the same colored aura. A chill went through Arthur’s spine, as he knew what exactly Niniane is capable of.

“Let us down or I’ll cave your skull in!” Vivi screeched, “I’ll make you regret making Arthur one of your puppets, you monster!”

Arthur's mind went blank. What? Did Vivi seriously just say that?

“Funny for you to assume I even did that, Yukino.”

Niniane brushed at her face with a paw, which allowed Arthur to notice that she has a small patch of black fur over her right eye, giving it the impression of a scar. Did she always have that? He couldn’t remember, since the last time he saw her monster form was over nine years ago.

“A vile creature such as yourself does not deserve to exist. In Arthur’s—” Mystery’s voice was cut off upon being slammed against the solid concrete below.

“I’d think twice before using Arthur’s name as an excuse for your actions as of late,” Niniane stood up on all four legs and slowly approached the downed kitsune and Vivi, “Believe me, I know what the two of you have been doing. You have exterminated countless creatures outside of humanity in his name for years now. I believe you did it so he would… feel safe enough to come back. Is that it?”

“If monsters like you never existed, Arthur wouldn’t have…” Vivi somehow broke through the restrictive magic and charged at Niniane, “None of this would have—AHH!"

“What did I just say?” Niniane glared as she had Vivi pinned to the ground with a front paw like a predator would do to its prey, “Did you seriously think that Arthur would be thankful that you have been eliminating beings similar to myself blindly left and right? Enough to where it’s caused multiple sacred grounds to be stripped of their faithful guardians and thus left to corruption by your actions? Enough to where you’re willing to murder children who had nothing to do with your revenge?”

Vivi made a futile attempt of pounding at Niniane’s paw with her bare fists.

“I suppose I will have to teach you a lesson. The hard way, that is,” Niniane sharply raised her other front paw, and slammed it down against the ground.

Arthur reached out to the white nine-tailed fox. No!

“VIVI!”

A loud crack ripped through the quiet air.

Arthur’s heart stopped. Did Niniane just…? …No. She missed Vivi’s head by less than an inch. She could’ve easily crushed her if she so desired and not regret it one bit. Regardless of Niniane’s reasoning, it did the job of shocking Vivi still, for she is frozen with genuine fear in her eyes. Even though he knew that he isn’t allowed to be near Vivi anymore, Arthur felt inclined to help her escape from Niniane’s clutches. But if he did that, then that meant that she will go after his family again.

At that moment, Arthur long knew with a heavy heart that no matter what, he will always choose to save his children first over anyone in Tempo.

“You are fortunate in that I know for a fact that Arthur would not forgive me if I ended your life right now. In addition, I am aware that you have a young son, and I do not feel like stripping a child so young of his mother today. Know that this is not an act of mercy from me, but a strict warning for both of you. I will only say this once, so listen well,” Niniane growled as she used her magic to bring Mystery closer so she could look down on them.

“If you do ANYTHING that threatens the safety of my distant grandchildren and their families again, I won’t just kill you. I will end you. Mercy in any fashion will not even cross my mind after this.”

“You just said that Arthur would not forgive you if you did that,” Mystery smirked, “Might want to rethink on your empty--”

“Unlike a certain filthy ‘dog,’ my words are genuine,” Niniane did something with her magic to constrict Mystery’s throat to stop him from talking, “And I doubt Arthur will forgive you if you had exterminated his children. Right in front of him, no less.”

There was a long silence and Mystery went still. The only sound that could be heard besides the gentle breeze is Vivi’s quiet response.

“…What?”

“Well? I thought that’s what you were doing? Hunting down Arthur’s family like vermin? Hm… I guess I was right.”

“You’re lying.”

“You doubt me? Hmph. Well, I know that you are not aware of this, so I will spell it out clearly for you. The one you know as Arthur ‘Kingsmen’ is a part of my family, and the children he fathered with my distant granddaughter are also my family. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he elected to hide them from everyone in this town,” Her eyes narrowed, and she snarled, “He feared that you would try to hurt them, and he was right.”

It wasn’t until his son nuzzled his snout against Arthur’s face did he realize that Niniane had just told the ones he never wanted contact with again about the existence of his three children. As the horror started to settle in, he felt his daughter’s presence become smaller. He looked to his left and saw Gwen back in her human form wrapping her arms around him.

“Daddy, are you okay?” Gwen asked, “You’re not hurt, are you?”

Arthur shook his head before gesturing to Gwen to get ready to leave. He looked up at the scene before him and saw Niniane nod in his direction, her attention still focused on the attempted killers of his family. Ignoring the sight of the remnants of the Mystery Skulls at Niniane’s mercy, he stood up while carrying Vivian, and started to walk away from the scene. Moments later, the twins comprised of a girl and a single-tailed fox, began to follow.

“Arthur!” “Arthur, please! Wait!”

Arthur stopped moving but didn’t turn back to what was behind him. He knew that Niniane wouldn’t kill Vivi, at least, because she knew and even said it aloud that he wouldn’t forgive her if she did, and neither would dare to strip a boy of his mother after losing his father so soon. He isn’t sure what Niniane will do to Mystery, but hopefully she’ll have a way to prevent him from trying to harm his son and daughters again.

Vivi’s voice could still reach him, despite being pinned under Niniane’s grasp, “A-Arthur! Please! W-We didn’t know! We didn’t mean to—We just wanted you to come home!”

He isn’t allowed to talk to her. The wraith made that rule very clear.

“Arthur, please! Listen to us! We need your help!" Mystery’s voice boomed in Arthur’s head, and he hated it, “We tried to stop it by ourselves for years now, but you’re the only one that can truly end this curse!”

Because he has Vivian in his hold, Arthur couldn’t use his hands to cover his ears. Vivi wanted him to return to the place that became his own personal hell? All it would do is allow the wraith to hurt him all over again, and he can’t allow the children to be imprisoned into such torture.

His son, who remained by his side as a fox, moved closer to him, “Dad… What are they talking about?”

He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to care. He only wanted his family, his children, out and away from Tempo. Away from the wraith. Away from the Mystery Skulls. Away from Mystery. Away from Vivi. Away from hell. They tried to kill his children, and now they’re begging him for help like they were old friends? Did they not know what the rules are? The rules that the wraith had forced him to follow for so long after they have been beaten into his very being?!

“Daddy? We should get going. I just got word from Mom,” Gwen held her phone out to him to show him the text message from Elaine, “She says we should leave this to Nana, so…”

“That’s fine,” Arthur felt like he could breathe again and readjusted his hold on Vivian. He thought about looking back to see if Niniane has to say anything, but quickly changed his mind upon remembering that it would also mean seeing Vivi and Mystery at Niniane’s mercy. He took a deep breath, then gestured to the twins before leading them away from the scene.

“Arthur! Please! Don’t go! We need you!”

Just ignore them. Ignore their pleas.

“Arthur!”

Ignore them. Ignore their excuses.

“Please! We need you to save Lewis!”

…Something snapped.

Never… had Arthur felt such fury.

“Arth--!”

He ran off with his children following closely behind him.

Even now, after all these years, they’re still delusional. What the hell were they thinking, clinging on to a ghost?

He gritted his teeth and tried to keep his breathing steady. He can’t break down in front of his children. He can’t. He has to stay strong for all their sakes even though he knows that he is so weak.

“Daddy?”

He looked at Vivian and then at his surroundings. Oh… He ran so far that he’s now in a rather empty L-shaped alleyway. Is this what being numb felt like? He couldn’t remember due to the fury that is now fading away. He slowly fell to his knees. It hurt, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It felt so cold…

He heard footsteps. One soft and another heavy. He knew who they were.

Percy curled himself around Arthur and Vivian before lying down. Gwen soon joined in to lean against Arthur and let Percy wrap his tail around them. He barely registered the feeling, but Vivian’s hair started to wrap around him.

Even though he felt so numb, why is it so warm?

“I’m so sorry, everyone…” he whispered, “I’m so sorry...”

None of the children said anything, which is a huge relief. Regardless, Arthur knew that sooner or later, he would have to tell them everything.

“I never wanted this to happen. If you had gotten hurt, or worse… I don’t want to go through that. Not again.”

“We’re okay, Dad. Really,” Percy finally spoke, his voice rumbling, “None of this is your fault. We’re not blaming you for any of this.”

Arthur leaned further into the fur of his son’s monster form. So much has happened in just three days, it’s become overwhelming.

“I just got word from Mom,” Gwen said while looking at her phone, “She said she’ll be here once she helps Nana Niniane handle the ones that attacked us earlier,” she looked up at Arthur, “Daddy, did you know that blue-haired lady?”

He nodded against Percy's fur, knowing that it would be pointless to deny it. Thankfully, Gwen and Percy were wise enough to not press him any further.

He knew that sooner or later he would have to tell them what happened. But for now, he can’t. Not like this.

When Elaine found them a few minutes later, the first thing she did was embrace her family.

- - - - - - -

Later that day, after spending almost two hours in the hidden alleyway to let Arthur recover, the family of five finally managed to reach the restaurant they intended to go to in the first place. Before, they had trouble finding it, but while the family was separated, Percy, who had already changed his shape back into a normal boy, told them that he got some directions from a local that knew of the restaurant, so that was helpful.

They were seated at a table, with Arthur and Elaine on one side, the twins on the other, and Vivian on a child booster seat provided by the restaurant to be seated between her siblings and her parents. They gave the waiter the order of the restaurant’s original Surf’s Up Surprise Pizza. When the waiter asked them to elaborate, Elaine described the pizza to him, which didn’t prompt a reaction until she mentioned the oysters.

“Oh, you mean the Mechanic’s Special! Good choice. That pizza’s been the pride and joy of this place for over a decade and a half.”

Arthur felt confused. Since when did the pizza go by that name? He glanced at Gwen and Percy and saw that they were looking at the dessert list. He turned to Elaine and saw that she is looking up at the menu written on a large chalkboard taking up a lot of wall space on one end of the establishment. He took a moment to then look at Vivian, who is scribbling away on paper with crayons from a kid’s set the restaurant had provided earlier. From the looks of it, no one seems to notice his slight unease.

…It’s probably a coincidence.

"I'm so glad the four of you are safe."

Arthur focused his attention on Elaine as she leaned her head against her hand, looking worn out, “Everyone, I’m so sorry. I never thought that we’d get separated like that. I’m sorry that all of you were attacked. But you don’t need to worry, Nana Niniane is taking care of them as we speak.”

Arthur wrapped his arms around himself, “What will she be doing to them?”

Even though they tried to hurt his family, he didn’t want them dead. They have their own lives to live, and he has no right to have any influence over that. At the very least, he knew that unless anything that happened to Vivi was her own doing, the wraith would blame him for everything else.

But the fact that Vivi and Mystery both now know that he is married with children is still difficult to swallow. It’s only a matter of time before the wraith finds out and tried to take the children away.

“She’s mainly giving them a big scolding, which is worse than Aunt Morgan’s if you ask me,” Elaine shrugged with an unsure smirk, “We’ll probably have to confront them again sooner or later, but hopefully they’ll think twice before doing anything like that to us again.”

Arthur gave a low breath of acknowledgement, then looked down on the table to think about the recent case of events now that he has the opportunity to think calmly. He thought back to when Vivi first embraced them, then recalled the bad reaction she had when she saw Vivian with him. The fact that Vivian even attacked someone unprovoked at all is…

He realized something horrifying.

It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t. If it is, then…

“Gwen. Percy. I need you to be honest with me. I’m not mad. I just- I just need to know.”

His family turned to him.

“They attacked you once before, didn’t they?” Arthur finally asked the dreaded question, “While you were out practicing yesterday.”

He immediately recognized the uneasy looks the twins were giving to one another. It’s just like those times when he would catch them staying up too late to work on their pet projects back home. The realization that they have been busted.

“Elaine, when I called you because I couldn’t get a hold of them on the phone yesterday,” he turned to her, his uneasiness spreading, “You suddenly ended the conversation. Was it because you saw them getting attacked?”

Elaine averted her gaze briefly to look at the children before nodding, “Yes. I saw the kitsune, the one called Mystery, fighting with Percy while Gwen was busy protecting Vivian. I didn’t see the woman with him, though.”

“That was because Vivian knocked her out earlier that day,” Gwen shrugged, still looking uneasy, “After we left you and Mom so we could practice, we were just having fun and games until all of a sudden that kitsune confronted us, saying we shouldn’t exist.”

“It was two against one, so we thought that we could handle it ourselves so long as we had Vivian stay out of the way,” Percy continued, then growled out what came next, “But then that woman ambushed us by attacking Vivian with some sort of ice blade. Thankfully, all it did was cut off a chunk of her hair. We immediately realized that we were outmatched, so we made the move to retreat.”

“I tried to call Mom to have her help us, but we were beaten into the ground, and Percy was having trouble getting up,” Gwen shivered before looking at her little sister, “I thought we were about to die, but right when I had that thought, Vivian just went out of control and sent the kitsune flying. After that, she somehow got the upper hand against the lady that was with him and threw her against the cliffside, which knocked her out. I didn’t care what happened to the kitsune, but I had to stop Vivian from trying to kill the lady, so I just took her, told Percy to change back, I turned into a wolf and had him ride on my back, and then we booked it.”

“Unfortunately, in our haste in trying to get away, we accidentally went further away from town. We decided to take cover…” Percy trailed off with a sigh before continuing, “…in a forest of some sort, then I called Mom to come get us. When we made our way out, thinking we were in the clear, the kitsune somehow caught up to us. That was when Mom and Aunt Morgan came and rescued us, and then we all returned back to Kingsmen Mechanics after that.”

Arthur pressed his head against his hands while trying to steady his shaky breathing. This is all too much for him to take. He had it all wrong. The Mystery Skulls had in fact discovered the children, and they tried to kill his family, just as he feared.

And they mentioned going to a forest. The only forest he knows of around Tempo is south of here. And down south is--

How could he have been so foolish?! So overconfident that nothing would happen?! Why? Why?!

“Arthur, it’s okay,” Elaine placed a hand on his shoulder, “Everyone is fine. Nana Niniane and Aunt Morgan all helped me protect them, and they all managed to hold their own. Everything is going to be okay, my star. Haven’t I always kept my promise?”

He couldn’t believe her. Not when—

“Still, there’s something I need to ask. Nana Niniane said something about them eliminating monsters and spirits in your name,” Elaine pointed out, “Maybe it had something to do with that cave incident that took your arm?”

“’Cave incident?’” The twins asked.

“Not now, you two,” Elaine shook her head to them before turning back to Arthur, “Do you know?”

Would it really? After the details of what happened after everything went wrong were made clear, no one said anything about lethally hunting down the paranormal.

Then again, people change their opinions over time.

“Regarding… Mystery,” Elaine slowly said the fox’s name, “Were you aware that he was a kitsune the whole time? When Nana Niniane had me return to you, he turned into a dog. A dog with glasses and a weird spiky hairdo. Which is weird since kitsune are typically deathly afraid of dogs.”

“He’s normally disguised as a dog, and we all thought of him as such. Or at least I did,” Arthur lifted his left hand and flexed the fingers, “The first time I remember seeing his true form was when he took my arm to stop the… you know. I couldn’t remember it happening at first, but…”

All that blood… that screaming… that terror…

That noise…!

“…I don’t want to talk about it, anymore. I’m sorry.”

He can’t go back to them. Not when-

“Here’s your pizza, everyone!”

His thoughts were interrupted upon hearing the waiter coming in to deliver their food. Elaine and the children perked up upon seeing the original form of the Surf’s Up Surprise Pizza being presented before them and started to dish up.

“Arthur, let’s not think about what happened earlier for now and just enjoy this,” Elaine smiled and handed him a plate with a slice of the pizza, “We’ll worry about it later, okay?”

It was hard to hear her speak those words, but Arthur knew that she had a point. There’s nothing he or anyone can do about the fact that his children were attacked by a former friend and the fox that took his arm, and he knew that Niniane is making sure that they will not be doing it again anytime soon.

He took the plate and tried to enjoy the food with his family, but he was still worried. No matter what, he knew that even now, his children are not completely safe.

Especially since there’s one more threat unaccounted for.

…

Hopefully the wraith won’t try to punish the children for protecting themselves from Vivi.

Otherwise not even his own fear will stop him from doing what was previously unthinkable.

- - - - - - -

“It was awesome that we got to try the original pizza that Daddy liked!” Gwen said happily.

“I know, right? But personally, I think the Surf’s Up Surprise our family makes is better,” Percy grinned brightly, “After all, you can’t beat the taste you grew up with that easily!”

Arthur had to agree as he and Elaine followed the twins with a drowsy Vivian in his arms, the pizza that Elaine’s family learned to make is better. It’s the one he had with his family ever since the twins were born.

The pizza made in Tempo, while delicious and he remembered the taste, only opened old… old wounds.

“Are you okay, Arthur?”

“I’m fine, Elaine,” Arthur gave Elaine a small smile, “Just… old memories popping up.”

“Good ones or bad ones?” She gave him a sad smile back.

“…Bittersweet ones.”

Elaine chuckled, then kissed Arthur on the cheek.

It was decided after their hearty meal that they return to the hotel and rest, mostly to let Vivian sleep in a proper bed and to let the twins work on their projects in the meantime.

If only this was a family vacation.

“So, instead of a left arm, we should try making a right arm instead,” Percy gestured to his twin sister with his hands, “And it probably needs to be a little smaller, too.”

“Well, it’s doable, and we have those leftover connectors for the joints, but,” Gwen thought out loud, “I wonder if we have enough of our allowance to get the circuitry for the hand…”

While watching Gwen and Percy talk about robotics, Arthur stroked the back of Vivian’s head to keep her relaxed, whispering sweet nothings to her. Vivian groggily giggled and nuzzled further into his shoulder.

“Even after all these years, you’ve always been a better parent than me,” Elaine laughed quietly.

Arthur shook his head in amusement as he and his family continued to make their way back to the hotel. Elaine made sure to make a detour around the block that the Mystery Skulls had encountered him before attacking the children, and Arthur couldn’t help but be grateful for her thoughtfulness.

He didn’t want to know what kind of lecture (or torture) Niniane had put them through, if any.

Not many people were in this part of the town, which made it more ideal for Arthur. Even then, not many people outside of his previous acquaintances knew of him, if at all. His uncle would be the one people think of first whenever someone mentions the Kingsmen name in town.

“Oh, hey, mister! Thanks for giving me those directions to the pizza place earlier! It was great!”

Arthur turned to the passerby wearing a pink suit that Percy spoke to and—

“Wait…”

The man before them stood still, his jaw loosely hanging in shock. It took Arthur a moment, since the man looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties and that his hair is finely combed, but he immediately recognized who the man before them is.

It’s Mr. Pepper.

Lewis’s father.

“You…” Mr. Pepper’s breath hitched as he looked at Percy and then to Arthur, “I thought you resembled him, but you’re really his…!”

“Sir?” Percy reached out to him, “Are you okay?”

You are not to go near them.

Arthur couldn’t bring himself to say anything as chills went up his spine and recalled the rules. He wanted to run, but Elaine has her hand firmly on his back. He glanced down at her and saw that she is carefully observing the interaction between Mr. Pepper and Percy.

You have no right.

“I…!” Mr. Pepper grasped his own face with one hand, looking too choked up to speak clearly, “Arthur, I…!”

The father of the Pepper family fell to his knees crying loudly, causing Arthur and his family to step back.

“Arthur, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I never meant...! We didn’t know that--!”

What is he crying about exactly? Arthur knew that there isn’t anything for Mr. Pepper or anyone in his family to be sorry for. They had every right to be angry at him for being the cause of their family being torn apart with Lewis dying.

…Right?

No, that can’t be. First Belle, then Cayenne, and now Mr. Pepper. Just what is going on?

“Daddy, what is he talking about?” Gwen asked, she and her brother both looking conflicted on whether they should help the crying man or step away.

Arthur really didn’t know. There is the typical conclusion one could get, but there’s no way that’s right. Still, what really caught his attention is Mr. Pepper’s jacket.

Why is Mr. Pepper’s right sleeve folded and stitched against his right shoulder?

- - - - - - -

…

I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry.

Why did this have to happen?

…

It’s so cold.

The truth has long been known.

This… has been long deserved.

…

Don’t run away. It’ll be fun!

Just like one of our many, many games…

…Right?

…

Stop! Stop!

I said I’m sorry!

I won’t go near them, anymore!

…

This warmth… I don’t deserve it.

Not after what I have done.

How could I have…?

…

I have yet to believe that.

- - - - - - -

Want you, need you!

Want you, need, (need),

Want you, baby,

You’re my fantasy!

Part 18: Paralyzed

#mystery skulls animated #msa fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #msa arthur #arthur kingsmen #msa #msa knights #elaine knights #gwen knights #percy knights #vivian knights #niniane knights

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ashis2gay4u · 5 years

Text

Heroes Of Olympus Heathers! AU

Here's the character list, in case people get confused:

Veronica: Percy Jackson

JD: Nico di Angelo

Martha D: Annabeth Chase

Heather C: Nancy Bobofit

Heather M: Silena Beauregard

Heather D: Drew Tanaka

Ram S: Luke Castellan

Kurt K: Octavian Augur

Big Bud Dean: Hades di Angelo

Veronica's Mom: Sally Jackson

Veronica's Dad: Poseidon Jackson

Kurt and Ram's Dad's: Hermes Castellan / Jeremy Augur

Ms. Fleming: Hecate Hearths

Principal Gowan: Zeus Skyson

'[text]' signifies what Percy is writing in his journal.

Now, on to the story!!

Percy Jackson stepped into the high-school, taking a deep breath as he tightened his grip on his open journal and pen. Another first day at Hell.

A boy bumped into him, one of the jocks.

Percy froze, and glared at him, "Hey, don't be a dick-"

The jock laughed, "What did you just say to me, bitch?" he asked.

"N-nothing," Percy replied, inching away, realizing who he was.

"That's what I thought, wimp," he said, smirking. His best friend walked up to them, and pushed Percy into a locker.

'Introducing Octavian Augur, the lead quarterback of the football team, and his best friend Luke Castellan, the captain.'

'Octavian allows his dick to lead him everywhere, and has a sense of cruelty regarding everybody. He's also the smartest guy on the football team, which is like being the tallest dwarf. Luke is charming, but is obsessed with being known. He did everything and anything to make sure people knew where he stood, and who he was.'

"What you got there, sissy? A diary?" Luke laughed, pointing at it.

"What a fag," Octavian added, knocking it out of his hands.

Percy watched in distaste as the two high-fived, and went to pick up his journal, only to find his best friend Annabeth Chase standing there, holding it out to him.

"Here you go, Seaweed Brain," she said, smiling.

Percy smiled back, taking the journal from her and cradling it against his chest, "Thanks, Wise Girl."

"No problem, Perce."

"Another year of Hell, and then University or College. Did you get your applications replied to yet?" Percy asked, opening his journal to continue his entry.

"Yep, all of them."

"You sent out ten, how in-"

"You must forget why you call me 'Wise Girl', Seaweed Brain," she teased, laughing as he blushed. "What about you?"

"Nothing. I sent out five, and no reply from anywhere. I'm doomed if I can't get into New Rome University, it's where Uncle Neptune and Dad went and they're both top-notch marine biologists."

Annabeth hummed, staring off into the distance. He followed her gaze, and found them both staring at Luke's ass.

"Annabeth-"

"I know, I know... But he has to still love me, I know he does..."

Percy was about to speak up, when people started clearing out the hallway. He quickly pulled Annabeth aside, and watched as the "Heathers" walked by.

They aren't all named Heather, but they definitely fit the trope in their own way; gorgeous, dumb, and cruel.

The first Heather stepped out, brushing her long, claw shaped, hot pink nails through her hair. She wore her usual emerald green outfit as she strutted down the hall, winking at the popular boys and sneering at the geeks and rebels.

'Introducing Drew Tanaka, the "Beauty Queen". Bulimic, narcissistic, and obsessed with sex. Has a mean streak a mile wide.'

Percy didn't like her at all.

The second Heather stepped out, giggling as she stared at her phone, probably texting her boyfriend. She wore her usual yellow attire, which she somehow managed to pull off despite her black hair and crystal blue eyes.

'Silena Beauregard, the "dumb" one. She was sweet and kinder than the other two, but she got picked on for it often by her two best friends.'

Percy liked Silena, they used to be friends when they were younger, but then high school came and they stopped talking. He's sure she doesn't even know his name anymore.

The final Heather stepped out, donning her blood red clothes and scrunchie. She walked to the front of the group, seeming unimpressed with her friends.

'And last but not least, Nancy Bobofit, the queen fuckin' bee...'

Percy paused in his writings, before smirking.

'She is a mythic bitch.'

People started whispering about them, saying how they'd wish they were nicer, how pretty they were, how sitting at their table even once grants immunity, etc.

One guy made a creepy comment about a basement, nudity, a camera, and rats, but he chose to ignore it for his own sanity.

He watched as they went into one of the few non-gendered washrooms, fitted with three toilets, three stalled urinals, and three sinks each.

He suddenly felt the urge to pee, and after giving Annabeth a look of "wish me luck" he followed them in, heading into the first stall he saw.

Toilet, dammit all.

He could hear Drew puking in the stall next to his, and he cringed inwardly as Nancy said, "Pull it together, Drew. Bulimia is so last year."

"Yeah, Drew, maybe you should see a doctor," Silena added helpfully in a softer tone.

"Maybe you're right, Silena, I should."

The door opened, and the voice of Hecate Hearths, the student counselor, rang out into the room.

"Ah, Nancy, Silena..." She paused as she heard Drew puking again, "...And of course, Drew. Didn't you hear the bell? You're all late for class."

Percy quickly set to work in his journal, a plan forming in his head.

"Drew isn't feeling well, we're helping her," Nancy said sweetly. Her voice made Percy's blood boil, but he knew he couldn't back out now that the note was finished.

"Actually, Miss Hearths, I have the hall pass right here!" Percy said, flushing and stepping out of the stall.

Drew was now standing next to her friends, and the three of them stared at Percy in shock and awe.

Miss Hearth checked the note, and nodded. "Alright, but get back to class soon!"

As soon as she was gone, Percy found himself cornered by the three girls.

"Who are you?" Nancy demanded, glaring at him.

"P-Percy Jackson."

"Why would you do that?" Drew questioned next, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I want immunity," he blurted, "If you let me sit at your table just once, no talking necessary, people will think you at least tolerate me and leave me alone."

Nancy laughed, "Seriously?"

"I also do report cards and late slips!" he added.

"What about prescriptions?" Drew asked curiously.

"Drew!"

"Sorry, Nancy."

Nancy grabbed his chin, squishing his cheeks, and moved his face side to side, "For a greasy little nobody, you do have good bone structure..."

"And a symmetrical face!" Silena said excitedly, "If I took a meat cleaver down the center of your skull, I'd have two matching halves. Very important!"

"Of course, you could stand to lose a few pounds," Drew said, smirking at him.

"You know, this could be beautiful... Some eyeliner, maybe some light eye-shadow and mascara, and we're on our way. Silena, get this boy some blush, and Drew I need your brush. Let's make him beautiful~"

"Let's make him beautiful!" the other two repeated, doing as they were told.

"Okay?" Nancy asked sweetly as she sat him on the counter of the sink.

"Okay!" Percy said excitedly.

Percy was nervous as they all stepped out of the bathroom during second period, his face all made up with a blue-green eye shadow, black eyeliner, red blush, and mascara. His hair was somehow tamed due to Nancy's harsh brushing.

People turned to look at the four of them, and once again, the halls erupted into whispers.

"Who's that guy?"

"Who's the sexy dude?"

"Who is he?"

Nancy smirked and pushed him to the forefront, and Percy gasped as he turned to see Annabeth staring at him, "Percy...?"

"Percy."

"Percy?"

"Percy!"

Everybody started fawning over him, and his face lit up like a lighthouse on the shore at night, "Fuck yes!"

Nancy smirked, turning to the other girls. She nodded her chin at Annabeth, who was staring at Percy with a look of shock.

"Let's see how much of a man he really is," she whispered.

Drew and Silena nodded, giggling.

"No, no way!" Percy said, "It'll crush her!"

Nancy's smile faded to a snarl, "Are we gonna have a problem here?" she snapped, glaring him down.

He gulped, backing away.

"You've got a bone to pick?" she advanced, backing him up against the lockers. Drew and Silena moved to block his only two exits.

"You've come so far, why now are you pulling on my dick? I'd normally slap your face off, and everybody here could watch~" she purred, smirking.

Percy suddenly became aware of everybody watching the scene in silence, and he felt his body begin to tremble in fear.

Drew snatched the note from his hand and headed towards Luke.

He barely managed to get it back from her, but he gripped it like a lifeline as Nancy snapped her head in his direction.

"Well, I'm feeling nice, so here's some advice, listen up, bitch."

Silena, in all her pure glory, began to speak, Drew following her lead.

"I like!" They managed to say it in sync, which scared Percy half to death.

"Lookin' hot, buying stuff they cannot~" Nancy sang, her voice much more attractive than her face.

"I like!"

"Drinking hard, maxing dad's credit card~"

"I like!"

"Skippin' gym, scaring her-" she turned and smirked towards Annabeth, causing Percy's blood to run like ice through his veins, "-screwing him~" she then pointed at Octavian, who waved.

"I like!"

"Killer clothes, kicking nerds in the nose!"

He scrambled back as her leg swung up inches away from his face.

It's official, he's died and gone to Hell.

"If you lack the balls, you can go play dolls, let your mommy fix you a snack!" Nancy snapped, advancing again, "Or you could come smoke, pound some rum and coke, in my Porsche with the quarterback!"

"Honey what you waiting for?" Silena asked, managing to slip the note from his grip.

He reached out for it, only to have Drew block his way, "Step into my candy store!"

"You just gotta prove you ain't a pussy, anymore!" Nancy said, motioning to Silena, who had already delivered the note.

"And step into our candy store~" the three said, smirking.

"Percy, Percy look! Luke just invited me to his homecoming party! This proves he's been thinking about me!" Annabeth said, rushing over, the note in hand.

"Color me stoked," Percy said nervously, feeling extremely guilty at the excited look on her face.

"I'm so happy!" she said, seeming on the verge of tears.

"Yeah..." he said, forcing a smile.

"McDonald's has always been my place to go, always. No matter where we move, it's always right there!" Nico di Angelo said with a small smile.

Percy laughed, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach as he payed for the coffees, "Yeah, but it'll make you fat."

"Not if you work out daily, it doesn't," Nico insisted, "Come on, do I look fat to you?"

Percy, in all his idiocy, made the mistake of eyeing him up and down, hoping Nico didn't notice how his eyes lingered on his lips.

Blushing, he said, "No, you don't."

"Exactly."

"PERCY! WHERE IS MY COFFEE?"

"C-coming!"

"You have some... Interesting choice in friends."

"Yeah, I hate them, but I need them."

"Why?"

Percy said nothing, merely walked out.

That question is what was brought to the forefront of his mind as Nancy stood before him, hands on her hips.

"Nobody will talk to you, touch you, or even look at you! You don't get to be a nobody, you get to be dead to everybody!" she screeched, causing his ears to hurt.

Silena giggled, "I know who I'm sitting with at lunch on Monday."

Drew smirked, "Do you, big boy~?"

Percy turned to look at the others at the party, but everybody was turned away.

"I-"

"Come Monday morning... Percy stew will be on the menu~" Nancy purred with a smirk akin to that of a wolves before it tore out the jugular of it's prey.

He fled the party, tears in his eyes.

"P-Percy, what are you doing in my room?"

Percy took a deep breath as he stared at the other boy, before smirking, all of his uneasiness fading away as he stepped away from the window.

"I'm sorry, but I really had to wake you."

"W-why?"

Percy's smirk evolved into a huge grin, his cheeks flushing a dark red, "You see... I decided I must ride you 'til I break you~"

"W-what-"

"Nancy says I got to go, you're my last meal on Death Row," he purred, moving to straddle the younger boy, "So shut your stupid mouth, and lose those boxers~"

Nico's face went bright red, and he pulled Percy down for a kiss.

The rest of the night went even better then Percy had hoped it would.

"She's dead! Fuck! I just killed my best friend-"

"Percy, calm down, love," Nico cooed, cupping the older boy's face.

"W-we need to call 911-"

"-and get ourselves arrested for murder?" Nico questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Percy shouted, on the verge of a panic attack.

"Suicide note," Nico said, standing up and grabbing a pen and paper. "Write."

"Hey, Dad!" Hades di Angelo said, smiling at his son.

Nico rolled his eyes, his grip around Percy's shoulder getting tighter, "Hey, son."

"How was work?" Hades asked, before changing his voice, "Oh! It was crazy! They wouldn't let me blow it up, but I did it anyways!"

"That's great, son."

"Thanks, Dad," Hades finally noticed Percy, who smiled weakly and waved shyly, "Hey, Dad, meet my new girlfriend!" he added in a poor imitation of Nico's voice.

"Dad, this is Percy. Percy, this is.. My dad."

"Hello, Percy."

"Hi, Hades..."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Hades asked.

"Oh, no... My mom is making my favorite for dinner, fried salmon. With lots of ah... Salt."

"Oh, that's funny, isn't it dad? The last time I saw mom, she was waving out of a building you blew up seconds later."

"Yes, son," Hades said darkly, "Yes, it was."

"Uhm... I'm gonna go..."

"Drew! Silena! Open the door!"

"On no, oh no!" Drew laughed, locking the doors.

Silena gave him an apologetic glance, "No, no... No."

"You make our balls so blue~" Luke sang drunkenly.

"They're hanging sadly~" Octavian added.

Percy ran off, tears in his eyes and a burning rage in the pit of his stomach..

"Sword fight, eh?" Drew purred, the red scrunchie in her hair standing out against the green outfit she wore.

"What?" Percy questioned, staring at her deadpan.

"The sword fight in your mouth, idiot," Drew snarled.

"What? When-"

"Last night, yeah! Turns out the pretty girl was Percy Jackson dressed in drag!" a kid said from a few meters away.

'What?'

"Oh, everybody is talking about last night, Percy~"

"You bitch-"

"Apparently not like you, mutt. Go slobber on some more cock, eh?"

"Sword fight, eh?"

"Nico, I-"

"I know, Sea Prince, I know. Come on, we'll make 'em pay~"

Nico smirked as he loaded up his gun, "Not real, just tranquilizers. My grandpa Kronos brought them back from World War two."

"Well... Okay. What do we do though?"

"Plant a note saying they killed themselves for being gay for each other."

"Hah! Brilliant!"

"Mmhmm, they made you cry, so now they'll pay. They'll wake up as laughingstocks."

"I love you," Percy said, kissing Nico.

He hummed against Percy's lips, "Our love is God, baby."

"We love our dead gay sons, whether they were pansies or not!" Hermes Castellan and Jeremy Augur said at the funeral, just before Luke's poor mother broke down in tears.

"My son!" she wailed, "My beautiful, beautiful son!"

"You're a fucking psychopath! Get the hint, Nico!"

"But, Babe, our love is God~"

"Then God is dead!" Percy screamed, glaring daggers at the other.

He stormed off, ignoring Nico's call of, "You'll be back, sure as day turns into night! Nothing can break our bond!"

Silena clung to him, gripping his t-shirt so tightly he was scared her nails would cut into his skin through the fabric.

"I stand in a boat... On a raging black ocean, low in the water, and nowhere to go... The loneliest lifeboat, filled with people I know..."

"I know, Silena, but don't worry, we'll make it to shore someday..."

"Percy, please, talk to us son!" Poseidon Jackson cried, waving the book Moby Dick around.

"Your problems seem like life and death," Sally Jackson added, staring at her son with tears in her eyes, "But believe me, they aren't!"

"You don't know what my life is like!" Percy screamed back.

"Yo, boy, keep it together~" Nancy purred in his ear.

"You've burned that red scrunchie, come join us in Hell!" Octavian and Luke said in unison.

"Somebody's here for you~" Nancy said, smirking.

Percy's eyes widened, and he rushed upstairs.

"Don't make me come in there, Percy."

"Go away! I'll scream, and Mom'll call the cops!"

"Don't you want to make s'mores with me? We can smile and cuddle while their screams burn out! Ha! Get it, burn out?"

Percy knew he had only minutes to figure out how to get away, when he spotted the bed sheets.

'He wants suicide so badly? I'll give him one he didn't plan...'

"Percy, open the door! Open the door right now!" Nico snapped, brandishing his gun.

Silence.

"Don't make me come in there!"

Silence.

"On the count of three!"

Silence.

"One!"

Silence.

"Two- Fuck it!"

He kicked in the door, and froze at what he saw.

"No... Percy, why...?" Nico whispered brokenly, dropping to his knees. "You were all I could trust... Please don't leave me alone..."

The hanging body said nothing, merely swung back and forth.

"I can't do this alone," Nico sobbed, yanking at his hair. He suddenly got a crazy look on his face, onyx eyes wide and crazed, his grin so wide it could split his face in half, "Still, I will if I must!

He climbed back out the window, laughing.

"Percy?" Sally questioned, "I brought you a snack, blue cookies-"

She saw him there, hanging in the closet, and screamed.

His eyes opened.

"Drop the bomb."

Nico chuckled, "Oh, this little thing? I'd barely call this a bomb..." Percy gaped as the smile on Nico's face stretched, a crazed look in his eyes. “This is merely to trigger the packs of thermals upstairs in the gym, now those are bombs!”

Percy knew he didn’t stand much of a chance against Nico, but he also knew he had to try.

Nobody was going to hurt his friends anymore.

"I'm a fucking dead boy walking, and you're going down with me!" Percy shouted, tackling Nico to the floor.

Nico laughed, "I knew that noose was too loose!"

The gun went skidding far off, and as Percy was just about to reach it, Nico pinned him to the ground, smiling at him crazily. "I don't think so~!"

Just as his hands clasped around Percy's neck, a gunshot rang off.

Percy gave a sob as Nico spat up some blood, his beautiful onyx eyes wide in shock.

And then the unexpected happened.

Nico kissed him, sweet and gentle, before standing up and grabbing the bomb.

"I.. Am damaged. Far too damaged," Nico said softly.

Percy merely stared at him, not knowing where this was going.

"But you... You are not beyond repair," he added, looking up at him with a sad smile. He pressed the button on the bomb, the one to set it off.

"Wait-"

"Stick around a little longer, make things better, it's too late for me."

"Please, no!"

"You beat me fair and square..."

"Nico-"

"Please, stand back now, I'm not quite sure what this thing will do... I don't want my Sea Prince getting hurt," the younger replied, motioning with his hand for Percy to back up.

Percy took ten steps back, eyes wide in horror as the timer clicked down.

10.

"A little further..."

Percy took a dozen more steps back, full-on sobbing by this point.

"Our love is God, baby," Nico said with certainty.

"...Say hi to God."

"You look like Hell," Drew said with a sneer.

"I just got back," Percy replied, walking up to her.

"Hey-! What're you-"

In one swift motion, he kissed her cheek, yanking the red scrunchie from her hair.

"No more. War is over. We're all damaged, we're all broken up and hurt, but that's okay! We'll heal, all of us! If nobody loves us now, someday, somebody will."

Drew put a hand to her cheek, blushing as she glared, "You stupid-"

"Shut up, Drew," Silena said, "Percy's right."

Percy smiled at her, and she smiled back at him softly.

He turned to Annabeth, who was sat in her wheelchair, "Annabeth, are you free tonight...? I was thinking, maybe, we could hang out..? Rent a movie, something with a happy ending..?"

"Are there any happy endings...?" Annabeth asked softly.

"Maybe not now, but someday there will be," he said confidently.

She smiled, throwing her arms open.

He eagerly obliged, hugging her tightly.

"For now, let's party!" A kid yelled.

For the first time since he first became a "Heather", Percy felt happy, and free.

{La Fin}

~Ashton Bende

#percyjackson #heathers!au #nico di angelo #percico #nicercy #blb #trigger warnings #character death #heathers

50 notes · View notes

mollymauk-teafleak · 5 years

Text

Black Coffee (final part)

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

And just like that, it’s over...

I’m genuinely quite sad. I’ve enjoyed writing this so much and I’ve enjoyed hearing what you guys think and I’ve really appreciated all the love and support, particularly from my beta readers @minky-for-short and @spiky-lesbian

If you’ve enjoyed this fic, please let me know! Leave a comment on Ao3, reblog this post or even donate to my ko-fi if you can!

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

When the twins were much younger and their world hadn’t yet grown beyond the garden of their mother’s tiny house, they had a ploy whenever they got sick. If one of them were struck down by a cold or a stomach ache or a sore throat- usually the smaller, skinnier, sicklier Vax- the other would insist they were sick too. They would crawl into the bed of the other, scooting up under the blankets to hug their sibling close, and swear blind that they’d caught the germs and had to stay home from school as well.

Their mother would never fall for this, they realised later, she was much too wise to their antics. She just never had the heart to split them up, to come between the love that compelled them to stay home only to hug and comfort and protect their other half. She would just smile and nod and tuck them in tighter, promising to bring her two little elflings water and soup.

Once the door was closed, stories would be whispered under the blankets with shadows up the wall accompanying their words, building fantastical worlds where germs didn’t exist and things didn’t hurt. They’d play games, pretending to be badgers in a den or baby owls in a nest, thinking about the animals they’d see in the forests around their little village. One would read to the other, whatever story book was their favourite. And if things were just too much, they would hold each other and just know that they weren’t alone.

And then that world was taken away from them, picked up in unfamiliar hands that looked a lot like their own and shaken until they were tossed out into somewhere cold and scary. And while around them everything grew, their circle of people they could trust and depend on shrank to just two.

What got them through that time were those times when one of them wouldn’t be able to find the strength to face the day, Vax as he lost sight of who he was and had his own body turn on him or Vex as she felt the walls grow tighter and tighter around her until there was barely room to breathe, and the other would crawl under their blankets and wrap their arms around them. Suddenly, it would all be gone, Syldor, Syngorn, everything.

And they would be small again, staying home from school on a rainy, sniffly day, knowing everything was okay because they had each other.

Just for a moment.

Vex had been at work when Vax had come home in tears but she’d heard it from behind his bedroom door as soon as she walked into the apartment.

Trinket was sat in front of his door, whining and worried, looking at her pleadingly like she could fix this. And Vex realised immediately that she couldn’t.

She’d really wanted it to work out for him. Of course she’d worried, she worried about her brother all the time, but the way he and Percy had looked at each other… she’d hoped.

Anger made her hands shake as she dropped her rucksack on the floor and hurried to the door that was muffling her brother’s sobs. She’d trusted Percy with her brother’s heart. She easily could have pinned him to the wall the multiple, equally awkward times she’d woken up to find him sat drinking coffee on their sofa in one of her brother’s t-shirts and his boxers, she could have got in his face and snarled that if he ever hurt her brother in any way, she’d feather him like a duck.

But she hadn’t, because he’d looked at Vax like he’d hung the moon in the sky and that was exactly what Vax deserved. She’d wanted to believe life was finally going to give him a break.

If she ever saw de Rolo again, she’d break those fusty little glasses under the heel of her boot. And maybe his teeth, depending on how much remorse he showed. There was, after all, every chance that Vax had his own part to play in this all going up in flames.

But for now, her brother needed her. And, come hell or high water, she was always on his team.

The door wasn’t locked, if it had been she would have given him more time. But she took the unbroken click of the handle under her grip as a cry for help and fully intended to answer it.

The curtains were drawn tight, choking off any light in the room at all. It took her a moment of adjustment to make out any movement, to finally see the tremulous shuddering of her brother’s shoulders as he cried into his pillow.

Vex didn’t try and say anything. She just picked her way through the haphazard obstacle course that was her brother’s bedroom floor in the dark, ears picked up high to avoid breaking anything or falling flat on her face. Fortunately, she made it to the bed and, not even hesitating, she crawled under the tangled blankets, bakery uniform, clunky kitchen boots and all.

Vax only seemed to cry harder when he realised what she was doing but he flung himself into her arms, clinging on bitterly. Vex returned the embrace with equal strength, closing her eyes and burying her nose in her brother’s dark hair.

“He…” Vax rasped after a while, “He just…”

“Shh,” Vex murmured, unable to hear her brother struggle for the words and contextualise how he felt, like listening to someone try and walk across broken glass, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it right now. I’m here.”

Vax sounded relieved, dissolving back into soft little hitching breaths, the only things he had at his disposal to explain the storm inside him. Vex racked her brain for stories, songs, anything from when they were kids.

But she got the sense that could wait. The best thing she could be right now was a pair of arms, a stiff polo shirt to cry into and a beating heart against his ear.

The best thing she could be right now was a sister.

Vax’ildan? Percy thought immediately when he heard his phone ring.

Desperate, he snatched it up, heart hammering out a tattoo that was hopeful and terrified in equal measures.

But no, the title that came up was Antler Girl. Trying so hard not to be disappointed that his best friend was calling him, telling himself he needed to hear another person’s voice, Percy accepted the call and held the phone to his ear.

“Perce, what on earth are you doing?”

“Pardon?” Percy asked, his voice very obviously rusty. He hadn’t spoken aloud since Vax had left yesterday afternoon but he’d been doing a lot of crying and it had left him sounding like he’d gargled nails.

“In the nicest way possible, have you lost your mind?”

Percy frowned, eyes burning too much and chest aching too much to puzzle this out, “Keyleth, what…”

“Vax’ildan, Percy. What happened?”

His chest gave a painful twist, “How do you know about that?”

“Vex’ahlia messaged me. Percy, he’s heartbroken, what happened between you two? I thought you were going to tell him?”

“Do you...do you talk to Vex often?”

“Is that really the best you can do to change the topic?”

Percy scowled, “Keyleth, I can’t do this right now, not over the phone.”

“Oh, good. I’m outside your door. Let me in, please?”

Now feeling he was fully justified in being annoyed, Percy staggered out of bed and through the living room that was, after nearly a solid week of neglect, now starting to gather some real dirt and decay, food cartons left to fester on the coffee table and the kitchen counters, dirty clothes thrown over ever piece of furniture.

And a case of the cheapest, nastiest beer he could think of, bought in a moment of weakness but left unopened in the epicentre of his filthy kitchen. He tried to let his eyes slide off that, tried to pretend it wasn’t there.

He unlocked the door, the door that had stayed barred to everyone except the food delivery people. Keyleth was dressed like the kindest, most helpful kind of school librarian, as she always was, with her startlingly red hair piled up on top of her head where it could get snagged in her antlers and face set in a worried frown that Percy suspected she kept on the shelf exclusively for him.

“How can I help you?” he asked in an exasperated exhale.

“Percy, just tell me what happened. We can fix this.”

“Look, we broke up. Is that what you wanted? You wanted to hear me say it? Whatever we were, it’s done now. It’s shit but it happens.”

Keyleth’s frown deepened, moving past Percy into the apartment without an invitation. Not that they were at a point in their friendship where they needed invitations but still, Percy glowered. It was just a day for glowering.

He was glad to have her back to him when she saw the place, so he didn’t have to see the disappointment cross her face, the pity, the panic. But he did get to see her shoulders tense at the sight of the beer, saw her head snap to the recycling bin to scan for empty bottles. She didn’t relax when there was none to be found, it wasn’t like Percy hadn’t gotten good at hiding them from her. He had years of experience in that.

Percy looked down. How many times had they acted out this scene before after he lost his family? How many times had Kiki come to pick him up off the lowest depths of rock bottom?

How many times would she do it before she got sick of him letting her down again and again?

Almost immediately, she moved to the sunken section of his living room and busied herself picking up trash and tossing clothes into just one pile rather than twenty, her magic dissipating a fog of pine scent to chase out the cloying stink of general unwashedness.

“Oh, Keyleth, don’t…” Percy groaned, wondering if it was possible to feel so much guilt that it would actually crush him, “You don’t have to.”

“Then help me,” she shrugged, going into the kitchen to find some trash bags.

Percy stood there awkwardly for a moment, just in a pair of too big sweatpants and nothing else, before sighing and moving to help her.

Neither of them said anything as they slowly but surely got the place into something slightly more habitable, the sofas and counters at least clear of garbage and the curtains open to let some thin light in.

“There,” Kiki eventually declared, dusting her hands off and taking a seat on the leather she’d just magicked to be much less dusty.

Percy came and sank down beside her, having to admit he did feel a little more human now. He’d even found a t-shirt that didn’t reek to cover his top half. “There,” he echoed listlessly.

“Seriously, Perce,” her voice softened and he could feel her eyes on him even though he couldn’t answer her gaze, “What happened? You seemed so excited to tell him…”

“He… he canceled on me,” Percy eventually admitted, getting the strong sense that he wasn’t going to get through this conversation without crying, “He had a date, just like that, clearly it didn’t even cross his mind to think about me. Keyleth, I don’t know what I’d done to blind myself but he’s just… he’s not into me. He’s never going to feel that way about me. And I can’t keep doing the pretending thing knowing that.”

Kiki crossed her legs neatly under herself, tilting her head knowingly, “And I’m guessing you talked about this with him openly and calmly like adults?”

Percy reddened and he sank further down into the expensively plush sofa, “No. I said something stupid. We shouted at each other.”

“I thought so.”

He felt his throat close, “Look, I was always going to fuck this up. It was always going to happen... “

“Percival, do not do this,” her reply was sharper than he’d expected and he jumped a little, “Life is not closing doors on you, you are.”

“Keyleth, it’s pretty fucking loud and clear…”

“Did it ever occur to you in your infinite genius and complete lack of common sense, that maybe Vax went on a date because he has no clue that you are in love with him? And if he was aware, he’d have been going on a date with you? And that you can’t be angry at him for not knowing things that you didn’t tell him?”

“I know that!” Percy’s voice cracked at just the wrong moment as his volume surged and he winced, “Why do you think I’ve been lying in bed hating myself for the past week?”

“Then quit doing that, you know it doesn’t solve anything!” Keyleth threw her hands up, “Go fix your problem! Go talk to Vax!”

“Fine!” Percy yelled, “I’ll do that!”

He suddenly blinked, realising what he’d just agreed to do.

Keyleth smiled sweetly, expectantly, “Want me to help you pick out an outfit?”

“Kiki, I don’t like you.”

“And you love me.”

“Yes, that too.”

It took most of the day but Vex finally coaxed Vax into the shower and was making him a cup of coffee when she heard the knock at the door. Trinket sat up and gave a warning rumble which she always found funny, given that he was the biggest wuss she’d ever had the pleasure of knowing and would never hurt a fly.

Dusting sugar from her fingers, she went and opened the door, a smile lighting up her face when she saw the beautiful, red haired lady who had been occupying a lot of her thoughts and texts since Vax had introduced them. She’d messaged her to tell her about the disaster their mutual brothers had created but she hadn’t expected her to come over. Not until their date next Saturday at least.

“Keyleth! What a lovely surprise-”

That was when she saw Percy awkwardly shuffling his feet next to her. And her face dropped into something resembling a storm cloud.

“Fuck you, de Rolo,” she said flatly.

To his credit, Percy nodded and bit his lip, “Yeah, I deserve that.”

“You sure as hell do,” Vex scanned him up and down, calculating a way to knock him to the floor and take his glasses, “Glad we agree.”

“Vex’ahlia,” Keyleth stepped smartly between them, clearly sensing the thoughts behind her dark eyes, “Do you think the boys could have a conversation? Maybe sort this out?”

Vex shifted, trying not to let how bright the druid’s eyes were and how those freckles dusted her nose so perfectly distract her from her righteous sibling anger, “I don’t know if that’s what Vax wants right now…”

“Could you ask him? Please? I promise, if he says no, we’ll leave.”

Percy has to leave, Vex thought to herself, you can stay as long as you want, my dear.

Was she fraternising with the enemy here? She couldn’t decide. Damn, this was confusing.

Trinket chose that moment to somehow turn to liquid and slide around his mama’s legs, bounding up to Percy and whining happily. To Vex’s surprise, Percy found a smile and hugged her dog earnestly, cooing to him and ruffling his ears in just the right way, suddenly so different from his usual, stiff, formal self.

Vex hesitated, her anger suddenly having nowhere to go, it’s clear, connected path from her fist to Percy’s face swept away in an instant. Keyleth caught her eyes for a second, reading her expression in an instant and smiling softly. A smile that said there was still hope.

And, as angry as she’d been, Vex still wanted to believe the chance for her brother to be happy was still there.

“I’ll ask him,” she murmured eventually, disappearing back into the apartment.

Vax was sitting at the kitchen table, holding his mug of coffee in both hands, looking small and young in an oversized dark t-shirt and shorts, his hair wet and straggly.

“He’s here isn’t he?” he asked quietly, not looking up from his mug.

“Just say the word, Scrawny, and I’ll throw him out,” Vex murmured, moving to stand behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders.

Vax exhaled softly, “Is it insane that I want to see him? I mean… half of me does.”

“It’s not insane,” Vex bent and kissed the top of his head, “It sounds about right for what you’re going through.”

Vax exhaled for a very long time, still not raising his eyes. He always took his coffee without milk, black as night, bitter enough to scorch the taste buds of anyone normal. She’d always found that funny, in much the same way Trinket trying to growl like a guard dog was. Vax always seemed so harsh and bitter on the outside, an affect he’d cultivated carefully, turning it into armour over the course of his life. But inside, all he’d ever wanted was to be loved, to be liked, to just be able to be himself.

And, fuck, he deserved that.

“I’ll talk to him,” he eventually said, “What have I got to lose, right?”

Vex smiled gently, “Lots. But you’re just that brave.”

“Thanks, Stubby,” that dredged a smile from him.

“I won’t be far,” she promised, “Keyleth and I will be just outside the building and I’ll have my phone on me the whole time.”

Vax tilted his head back then, looking up at her with something like his old spark, “You’re totally into Kiki, aren’t you?”

“Gods, above,” Vex rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help the relieved smile that flickered to life on her face, “Don’t make me regret all this being nice to you.”

“Can’t have us getting along too much, it feels weird,” Vax shrugged, motioning her towards the door, like he needed her to go before he lost his nerve.

Vex took the hint, squeezing his shoulder one last time before she moved away.

The next person to come through the door was Percy.

Vax was put in mind of the first time he’d ever set eyes on Percy. When he’d walked in looking so poised and calm, tired and lost but taking pains to hide it behind a neat haircut and prim accent, with his red carnation and polished glasses. Vax remembered the first thoughts that had entered his head along with the chiming bell of the cafe door. How he’d thought him a little stiff, a little strange, someone he could grow a fondness for in time.

Now, nearly a full year later, he was openly showing his hurts. He wore them on his face, in the dark circles under his eyes, in the way his hands anxiously, unconsciously wrung each other. There was no more hiding, not after everything they'd been through. Vax took some comfort from that.

And he wondered what Percy was thinking about him.

There was a very long pause, neither of them sure what to say, just looking at each other helplessly like they each wanted the other to save them.

In the same instant, Vax awkwardly began with “Hey…” and Percy blurted out, “I’m so sorry.”

Then suddenly they were smiling, hesitant and shy, but smiling.

“Try again?” Vax hummed.

Percy nodded gratefully, repeating it again with as much sincerity as he could muster, “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Vax’ildan.”

Vax swallowed, nudging the chair across from him back with one foot, an invitation to sit. Percy did, sinking down into it.

“You really hurt me, Percy,” Vax rasped, pressing against the wound inside him by thinking about it, “The things you said…they’re not true, I was never using you… ”

Percy’s face crumpled, “I know. I know that, Vax, I swear. I was just… I was angry at myself. I was jealous. I was bitter. None of that is an excuse, I know, it’s all my problem. But I will never forgive myself for lashing out at you, that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

Vax bit his lip, “You were jealous?”

Percy looked down at his hands, “It’s so stupid… I acted like a child. But yes, I… I was jealous. And instead of talking to you about it, I just made things worse. But I’m not just coming here with an apology, I’m coming to you with a promise never to do it again.”

“You were...jealous? That I went on a date?”

Percy seemed caught off guard, “Uh...yeah?”

“Shit,” Vax croaked, “Shaun was right.”

“I’m sorry?”

Vax summoned up all of his courage, everything that had made him brave enough to still want to be happy, and leaned forward, “Percy, do you love me?”

Percy’s eyes brimmed until they shone and in that moment, they looked so fucking beautiful, “Yes. I have for a while and...honestly, it scared me. I didn’t know what to do with it at first. I didn’t see myself as someone who deserved to feel like that, I guess, I just felt like such an idiot…”

“I think I know what you mean,” Vax whispered, starting to smile, “But I love you too. And I trust you. And I want to try this. So what does that make me?”

The tears that had been lingering there finally spilled over and Percy’s eyes became miniature seas, churning and rolling with their own waves, “It makes you the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I’m never going to stop being amazed that I’m allowed to have you in my life.”

They came together like the movement of the Earth itself, inevitable and with a sense of everything returning to how it was meant to be. They had spent months kissing, holding each other, exploring every part of their bodies together but now, as they did nothing more than slide their arms around each other, it felt so precious and new and exhilarating. It felt like a first time.

All Vax had been looking for was someone who would be nice to him. All Percy had been looking for was a friend.

What they’d found was a future together.

Two years later…

The Blooming Grove was always busy on rainy days. Something about the sweet, honey coloured warmth it’s windows spilled out into the street just beckoned people in, making it seem like the most perfect shelter from any kind of bad weather.

But almost as if fate- or, more likely, Caduceus Clay- had intended it, their table was free. The black, wrought iron table with the delicate glass mosaic pressed into the top, sat right in the window so they could look out and see the sheets of rain coming down and making the grey world even greyer and feel even warmer from the fact that they weren’t out in it.

Percy took a deep breath and straightened the two mugs, one in front of him, one in front of the empty chair across from him, both of them full of coffee that was so thick and black, it looked like ink. Vax’s favourite. Feeling the same, utterly identical stab of panic he’d felt a hundred times since he’d left the house, his hand shot into his pocket.

Yes, it was still there, just as it had been since he placed it there. The circlet of niello engraved silver, a small but perfect diamond held within a set of tiny, intricately engraved wings. He’d made it himself.

It wasn’t a throwing knife. But he hoped it would do the job.

Percy’s eyes snapped to the clock. Vax was late getting back from rehearsal but then, he’d expected that. This was the company’s first production since he’d earned the role of principal dancer and he was giving it everything, working all hours, humming the songs under his breath even in the shower.

And he really had earned it. Percy might have set up the production company but Vax had refused to just be handed the top spot. Finally given the space to do so, he’d simply worked hard and shone. Just as Percy knew he would.

So he’d accounted for lateness. He’d accounted for everything in fact. He wanted this to be perfect.

It had to be perfect…

The sound of the wind and rain suddenly grew stronger as the door opened, just for a moment before it was firmly shut. Percy looked up to see his half elf walking in, shaking rain from his dark hair, brushing it from his jacket.

Vax looked different these days but in very small ways. He stood taller, he smiled wider. He had little creases at the corners of his eyes from smiling so much.

Percy hoped the same changes, the little signs of a life well lived, could be seen on his own face. But he doubted they looked as beautiful as they did on Vax’ildan.

He kept the ring in his grip as he smiled and waved and watched the man he loved light up upon seeing him there.

And Percy realised it didn’t have to be perfect. They had never needed perfect.

They’d only needed each other.

#percildan #perc'ildan #Percy de rolo #vax'ildan #critical role #sugar daddy au #critical role fic #vexleth #cr: percy #cr: vax #cr: trinket #trinket the dog

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