Protectors (AU)

"You got a girl?"

Percy looked up at the ceiling of his five foot cell, not at the guard who'd spoken.

"Most beautiful one in the world." Percy replied without hesitation. The boy across from him snorted like that was real funny, but Percy was telling the truth.

She was gorgeous. Her honey blond curls shined in the sunlight and the way her gray eyes sparkled gave the stars themselves a run for their money. Just picturing Annabeth Jackson in his head was enough to make the ache in his limbs subside for a moment.

The guard standing in front of the metal bars made a sigh as if he could see her, too, standing before Percy telling him he was an idiot and pecking his cheek. The other boy, who seemed to spend his time letting the shadows imbibe him, shifted on his cold slim mattress.

"What about you, Night?" The guard asked him.

"No girlz," he spoke with a thick accent. The first words he'd said since they'd been thrown in here together last week. "Only girlz in my life were my sizterz." He frowned at his pronunciation. "Bianca...she did not make through the raid, and I do not know if I will effer see Hazel again." He muttered an Italian prayer, under his breath, as if he didn't want to she ever again anyway.

"You must have someone." The guard said again, his tone surprised, "No girl waiting for you at home?"

The boy laughed, a sound that was not normal heard in the underground of the POW camp. "You mizunderztand." He said, "I no have girl because I have boy."

Percy grinned wryly, "Is he as good looking as me?" His overgrown bangs toppled in front of dark green eyes and he wondered for the millionth time what Annabeth would think if she saw his lack of hygiene. She would probably punch him and break out into a list of health problems he could have.

The boy in black scanned him, and uncrossed his legs for the first time all week. "You cannot compare a Sun to the Ocean, Perzy."

"How'd you know my name?"

"I know lotz of things. Your name, Jazon's name, number of steps to the end of hall, timing of guard shiftz..." He looked at their prison keeper, who at his name had spin around bewildered. "My name iz Nico," He offered.

"I'll be honest, this entire time I thought you were just mute." Percy said.

Jason took a step away from the bars, enough so the artificial light could gloss down on him. Percy was surprised to see he was the same age as him, around 22, with golden hair that was eerily close to the color of Annabeth's. His uniform was a dark purple, not black like Percy had originally thought with the yellow insignia of the enemy displayed proudly on his chest.

Nico looked at him, "Your plan will fail, Jazon."

"How do you know about-"

"What plan?" Percy interjected, "What's going on?"

They both ignored him.

"You do not believe in the cause, Jazon. You plan on dezerting and running to your girlfriend. Then you will hide. And then they will find you and kill everyone you loved."

"H-how...?"

Nico settled back into his shadows, his pale skin glistening like moonlight. "You think you are only one with plan? Ethan thought that too. He comez back and takez Bianca and..."

He didn't need to finish. Jason had gotten the point. His face had gone pale. Percy feel a dash of sympathy go out to him. He's always thought there was something off about the guard. He wasn't grim faced or hostile, like the others. He wasn't even mean. For gods sake, the guy just asked about their lovers.

"There iz another thing I know," Nico spoke again, "Gaea is coming tomorrow for inspection."

Now this looked like news to Jason as well.

"The Monzters do not protect people, and you of all people know this, Jazon. Will you be hero, then?"

"Did you just ask the guard guy who works for the terrorist organization if he was going to take an attempt on the head of the Monsters?" Percy asked. It was so ridiculous, he was sure he'd heard wrong.

Jason turned back around and stared at the black wall across from them. The silence was so heavy. If Percy ever had to hold up the world on his shoulders, he figured it would feel like this.

Percy rubbed his finger wear his ring should've been but wasn't. They took everything he had on him. The necklace from the summer camp wear they'd met, the pen he kept as a reminder of the thirty thousand lines they had to write when they broke the rules, his wedding ring he never would've taken off otherwise, the list of names in his back pocket he'd started when they'd first begun trying to have a child. But they couldn't take Annabeth from his memory.

"Piper," Jason said suddenly. "My girlfriend's name. She was pregnant when I left a year ago, now. Whenever I think about doing something dumb, I think of her looking at me with her kaleidoscope eyes and begging me to come home in one piece. For our son."

Nico nodded like he knew. Percy wondered if he actually did. The Italian kid was starting to creep him out to be honest.

"I know a guy who will help." Jason voice faded, "but only if you two agree as well."

"If we suczeed we will be hunted to the ends of Earth." Nico pointed out brightly, "There will be no going back."

"I'm aware."

Nico smiled and turned to Percy, "e tu?"

"If I said no, Annabeth would slap me. They again she'd do it anyway, as well." Percy smiled like inside he wasn't breaking into a million pieces.

Not because he was afraid. No, he set out to do this. To stop the Monsters before they ruined anymore families. He was a soldier.

He was breaking because he knew the last words they'd spoken was a conversation they would never finish.

***

It was on the News when Annabeth got home. Her feet hurt like Hell. Her back ached, her very brain was thumped as it tried to escape the boundaries of her skull.

She'd didn't all day teaching screaming kids, who threw paper airplanes and pencils and stuck gum under the desk as a substitute teacher. Sometimes she really hated her job. She wanted to be an architect, but the firm she applied to had picked another clueless, talentless woman with more experience over her.

Annabeth wasn't bitter about it or anything.

She'd stumbled into her silent apartment, wishing it would be filled with the smell of her husband, and being disappointed. Percy hadn't been around for weeks, and his letters had stop coming home. Annabeth hated what her imagination kept coming up with.

She let her hair fall down and flicked on the TV with the remote. She sucked through the nearly empty cabinets for food finally deciding on a bowl of cereal. She had to eat it milkless because she hadn't had time to run to the store and restock.

"...End of the reign of terror! Reports are flooding in from all over that the notorious Monsters organization has been defeated from the inside!"

Annabeth froze, spoon hallway to her mouth. Her eyes locked on the screen desperately.

"According to details released from the army representatives, a group of four lead a prison break within the Head Quarters of the Monster's hideouts at the time of a visit from the leader, Gaea. The four, consisting of Jason Grace, Nico Di Angelo, Leo Valdez and Perseus Jackson, bravely fought and managed to disable Gaea and scatter the heavily reinforced armies that had been built up inside..."

Annabeth dropped the spoon. Her mouth went dry but tears welded up in her eyes until she couldn't see. Percy... Her Percy. His military picture flashed on screen along with the others. He was grinning wildly. Annabeth felt her heart ache, because even though he was grinning in the picture she knew it was fake. His eyes gave it away. That was an hour after he left.

An hour after she had told him, he shouldn't bother coming back.

"...two of the group were fatally injured and were air lifted to the hospital. Unfortunately, Leo Valdez did not make it and died of blood loss and heavy burns at 2 this afternoon. The other member's name has not been released for the public yet."

Annabeth was moving before she could even think about what she was doing. She grabbed her purse and ran towards the door. She had to go see him. Percy, whatever happened. She needed to tell him.

She flung open the door and nearly collided with three strangers standing in the hallway. They all wore suits with military embellishment on their chests. The man in front had short buzz cut hair. Behind him a man with black hair and dark shadows under his eyes offered her a sad look. The blond haired one wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Ah, Mrs. Jackson?" The foremost one said. Annabeth couldn't breathe. "It might be better if you sat down for this."

"No," Annabeth whispered. "No this isn't happening!"

"My name is Frank Zhang, and I-"

"NO!" Annabeth screamed. She grabbed the doorway to steady herself. Tears burned down her face, "SHUT UP!"

She didn't care that she was screaming like a five year old. This couldn't be true. Percy, he couldn't...He swore!

Down the corridor her neighbor's door opened, "Annabeth?" Grover appeared taking in the scene. His face went slack when realization dawned on him. He ran forward, shoving Frank to the side to catch her before she fell over.

"I told him I hated him!" Annabeth sobbed into his arm. "We got into a fight and I told him not to come back!" Something in her snapped. Maybe it was her heart. Pain flooded over her.

Percy wasn't coming home ever. Never again.

She'd never get to run her hands through his black hair or stare into his green eyes until she got dizzy. He'd never hold her and scare away the nightmares or make her laugh with stupid, dumb, completely Percy jokes.

The boy in black out a comforting hand on her shoulder, "He saved my life. He waz True Hero." His thick accent was hollow like he was hurting just as much as her.

Frank Zhang motioned to the blond boy, "Ms. Jackson, this is Jason Grace. We are afraid that the Monsters might try and take revenge on you, so we have hand picked him to be your body guard from now on."

For the first time Jason met her eyes, and she could see the barely controlled sadness crashing around inside him like a hurricane. "It's...It's the least I can do for him." His voice was scratchy like he hadn't talked in months.

Percy wouldn't know. He'd never know. The baby they'd spent so long fighting over names for...Percy wouldn't get to hold his son.

The only thing Annabeth could do was sob.

***

Jason took the phone call the moment it started ringing. Annabeth hadn't stopped sobbing, not that Jason expected her to ever. Percy spoke of her with such love it was hard to imagine that she would ever recover.

Would Piper cry like that for him?

"Jason." He answered his phone once he was outside the apartment and out of range of Annabeth's hearing.

"How is she?"

Jason considered lying, but he couldn't get the words out, "In pain."

The other end was silent, long enough for Jason to recognize a sob in the background.

His heart clenched. "And mine?"

"In pain."

"I-I trust you." Jason said quietly, "You'll protect them right?"

"With my very being, Grace. Watch after Annabeth, okay? Make sure she doesn't do anything...dumb."

"I will."

"You know if this fails everyone will be trying to kill us."

"If this fails well already be dead."

The other sided snorted in agreement. "By the way, your son hates me already."

Jason grinned, "Did Tristan throw up on you?"

"Three times, man. Three times!"

Jason wanted to laugh but his heart ached too much for anything more than a gutted whimper. "I've got to go." He said quietly, "but one last thing."

"Yeah?"

"You're going to be a father, Perce. Annabeth's pregnant. Bye."

Jason hung up and went back inside.

Hallway across the world Percy Jackson stared down at his phone in disbelief as a one year old Tristan Grace lay sleeping in his one arm and Piper Grace sobbed miserably into the shoulder of Silena Beauregard, wishing for her husband back.

~~~~

Yes? No? Sabrina, What the Hades were you thinking?

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