A/N: Guys I am so sorry about the wait for this chapter. I had severe writer's block, and ended up writing and re-writing it about three times. Thank you so much for all the reviews/faves/follows- you have no idea how much they mean to me. When I first started this story I was fully expecting around 10 reviews, at the most. To have over 90 is just amazing to me. You guys are AMAZING. So as a personal thank-you from me, this chapter is more than twice as long as usual. Popular request was Jason's POV for this chapter, but I tried to put a lot of Annabeth in it too, for everyone that wanted her POV. There is little bit of profanity- I should warn you- but nothing too harsh. This chapter is heavy in Jason/Annabeth friendship, something I very much endorse, so hopefully you enjoy!

Jason was standing alone on the deck. That in itself wasn't too unusual— he barely slept three hours a night these days, if at all. But something felt wrong. The night was unnaturally quiet, the moon abnormally bright. Beneath him the black water churned, slapping forcefully against the sides of the ship, almost as if something were agitating it. He shook the notion from his head, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. What was he getting so worked up about? There was nothing there. He wasn't normally one to scare so easily.

The deck in front of him creaked suddenly, the sound bouncing eerily off of the abandoned ship. Jason whirled around, the hairs on the back of his neck rising. All of his instincts screamed at him to run, to get away from there. The moon slipped behind the clouds, throwing the deck into deep shadow. He could have sworn he heard footsteps… He placed his hand on the hilt of his gladius, slowly drawing the blade. The familiar whisper of metal on metal broke the intimidating silence of the night, but somehow did nothing to calm his frayed nerves. There was someone else on the ship— he was sure of it now.

The wind picked up, aggressively tugging at his shirt, and he could sense storm clouds forming overhead, like they always did when he was upset. Thunder boomed in the distance, and lightning flashed, briefly illuminating a black-clad figure a few meters away, before the deck fell into darkness once again. Jason froze, chills running down his spine. They had never trained for this—being hunted down in the dark.

He tightened his grip on his weapon, cautiously backing towards the staircase. He felt too exposed out in the open. A sudden hiss filled the night, and the son of Jupiter reflexively threw himself to the ground— and not a second too late. He heard the solid thunk of metal connecting with wood, and knew that if it weren't so dark, he would see a knife buried to the hilt in the wall behind him.

Jason's heartbeat sped up; he could practically feel his assailants eyes boring into the back of his head. Whoever this was, they weren't messing around. For the first time in his life, the son of Jupiter found himself thankful for the darkness that surrounded him— he had a terrible feeling it was the only reason he was still alive at that moment. His attacker was just as inhibited by the night as he was.

The ship lurched suddenly— practically rolling horizontally through the water— pitching him straight into the railing. Jason felt his stomach drop as he got to his feet, heart thudding even more furiously against his ribcage. There was only one person who could control the water like that.

"Come out, Grace." Jason's heart sank at the sound of the familiar voice. He had hoped he was wrong, hoped that his mind was just playing tricks on him. But there was no doubt to whom the owner of the voice was. "Come out and play." A cold bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck, as he backed up further, letting the shadows envelop him. Trying to avoid a confrontation at all costs. Because if it came down to it, he couldn't do it— kill him, his friend, his cousin for gods sakes.

Thunder rumbled directly overhead, and a massive lightning bolt struck the deck directly in front of him, illuminating a glowing pair of sea green eyes. His eyes. But they weren't. They weren't the mischievous, carefree eyes that he remembered. No. These were dark, filled with cruelty and anger. But there was still no mistaking them. Against his better judgement, Jason stepped out of the shadows.

"Percy stop," Jason begged. "This isn't you. Whatever's wrong I can help you."

Percy merely smirked at his words, cocking an eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't think so." And lunged. Jason brought his blade up at the last minute, barely managing to deflect Percy's sword over his left shoulder. But before he could strike back, Riptide was already upon him again, striking his with bone-shattering force. Blow by blow, Percy slowly forced Jason to his knees, only to be blasted back with a concussion of air, slamming him into the railing. Jason hoped that maybe he had been knocked unconscious, but knew it was too good to be true. Percy pushed himself to his feet, face livid. And Jason realized that he had just made a very, very bad mistake.

Percy raised his hands, and the sea rose to his command, massive waves smashing over both sides of the deck. "Percy…" Jason tried one last time, to talk some sense into him, but it was just as pointless as before. The waves swirled into a massive whirlpool around him, forcing his head under before he had a chance to fly away. He struggled violently against the currents, but they dragged him down. Black spots danced in front of his eyes, as the darkness overwhelmed him.

Jason woke with a start, breathing hard. He was back in his cabin, had never left his cabin. It was just a dream, just a nightmare, it wasn't real. And while nightmares were a common occurrence in his life these days, it had been a long time since a mere dream had left him as shaken as he was now. It had been a total of five days since the incident with Phobos and Deimos, or "they-who-must-not-be-named" as Leo had affectionately taken to calling them, and Jason still couldn't wrap his mind around exactly what had happened. The whole night was a blur, random details and memories coming back in bits and pieces, intertwining themselves with fictional events, and haunting his dreams with an intensity that bordered on obsessive, ambushing him every time he closed his eyes. That was what this nightmare had been, twisted memories of Percy under Phobos's spell, dark eyes full of amusement, laughing at others pain with a cruelty that the son of Poseidon just didn't possess.

They still knew next to nothing about what had happened that night. The two gods were Phobos and Deimos, the sons of Ares and Aphrodite—Annabeth had been able to tell them that much—but the information had done little to clear up much else. No one had a clue what Terror and Fear had been doing on their ship, and Annabeth and the rest of the Seven had been running themselves ragged trying to find an explanation.

Exhausted to the bone, Jason closed his eyes, rewarded only with more flashes of terrible memories.

The coarse burn of the rope against his wrists as he struggled to reach Piper. Deimos' arm pressed to Percy's throat, holding him to the wall, slowly suffocating him. Annabeth, screaming bloody murder beside him, thrashing to break free of her bonds. Percy under Deimos' spell, eyes dark and sadistic, mocking, taunting. Piper, face white with pain, kneeling at Deimos' feet, knife pressed to her throat. The feeling of Percy's blood soaking through his shirt as he carried him to the infirmary, the son of Poseidon's hand grasping weakly at Jason's shirt.

Jason shook the flood of memories away with a gasp. Giving up on sleep, he pulled himself out of bed, miraculously managing to extract himself from the tangled mess that were his sheets without falling on his face. Body on autopilot, he found himself walking to the infirmary. Piper and Percy were both still unconscious, something that worried him, but that Annabeth assured was normal, especially considering the sheer amount of nectar and ambrosia they had been forced to give them.

Arriving at the infirmary, Jason opened the door as quietly as always—it was habit by now—not that it was necessary. If Piper and Percy had managed to sleep through Leo's creative renditions of Fireball and Copacobana the other night, then they were in no danger of waking up now. He slipped through the doorway, but suddenly he was somewhere else entirely.

He was back on the deck, once again helplessly bound to the railing, Frank and Annabeth on his right, Hazel and Leo on his left. Piper was down, Percy-not-Percy standing over her, sword drawn. "Percy! Percy, STOP!" Annabeth was screaming, her voice piercing.

"Piper! Piper!" He too was screaming, his heart beating out of his chest as he struggled to free himself from the ropes—but they weren't budging. Desperate, Jason turned to plan B. "Leo! Burn through the ropes!" The cords binding his left hand and Leo's right were right next to each other, practically touching.

"But…" Leo protested, but Jason cut him off.

"Leo burn through them now!"

Leo obeyed, and Jason barely felt the flames that enveloped his arm, ripping free of the bindings and drawing his gladius, cutting free of the ropes that held his other hand and Annabeth's, lightning striking across the sky as he finally broke free. He was in front of Piper in less than a second, blocking Percy's strike, tackling him to the ground. Phobos and Deimos had both disappeared. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Annabeth running to Piper. A small part of him wanted to go check on her himself, to make sure she was okay, but the sensible side of him knew that Annabeth would take care of her. He focused his attention on Percy, wrestling Riptide from his hands, pinning them above his head. They struggled, but Jason's grip was firm. Percy was practically growling, his eyes full of a malice and cruelty that scared Jason to death. He was hit with a wave of anger at Phobos and Deimos for reducing the son of Poseidon to this, a mere vessel, a puppet for Deimos, with no will of his own. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, until the the darkness lifted from his eyes, replaced with guilt and pain.

It was then that he noticed the blood. "Damn it!" Jason swore. This was not happening. Overwhelmed, he put his hands to his head. This could not be happening. He pulled Percy's already blood-soaked shirt up, cringing at the grisly sight; a single piece of bone was protruding from the son of Poseidon's stomach, surrounded by a steadily growing pool of crimson. No. No, no, no, no. He lifted his cousin into his arms, trying not to flinch at his labored breaths. Percy's hand had fisted itself in his shirt, and Jason could feel his blood soaking through the thin fabric.

"Jason can you get him to the infirmary by yourself?" Annabeth's calm and collected voice was the only thing keeping him from full out panicking, and he felt a rush of appreciation for the daughter of Athena.

He nodded. "He'll be fine, don't worry." The words tumbled out of his mouth automatically. It's all going to be okay. Jason tried to convince himself, putting on his most reassuring face. The same one he gave Piper when she was scared. It's all going to be okay. The one he had given Reyna before charging Krios at Mount Othrys, in what he had honestly thought would be the last day of his life. It's all going to be okay. The words seemed to relax the daughter of Athena a fraction, just as he knew they would. He had grown far too good at hiding his feelings these past few years. The only person he could never manage to fool was himself.

When he reached the infirmary, Hazel was already there, armed with an arsenal of bandages and nectar and ambrosia. "Oh my gods," the same panic that Jason was feeling flashed across her face as he gently lowered Percy onto the nearest cot. "Oh my gods."

Jason pulled himself out of the memory with a groan. He had relived the entire night over and over again in his head, and it never got easier. Shaking the images from his head, he moved further into the room. Both Piper and Percy had been banged to hell. Piper had cracked three ribs, dislocated her right shoulder, and broken her wrist on the same arm, as well as the numerous superficial scrapes and cuts that covered her body. The charmspeak stunt that she pulled also seemed to have taken a lot out of her, and consequently— or so theorized Annabeth— would weaken her abilities for the next week or so. But she was alive, alive and breathing, and nothing mattered more to Jason than that. Percy hadn't been so lucky. His heart had stopped mere seconds after they arrived in the infirmary. Not knowing what else to do, Jason had acted rashly, sending volts of electricity through the son of Poseidon's body. It had left behind a nasty looking burn in the shape of his handprint— explaining that one to Annabeth had not been fun—but thankfully it worked. In addition, he had suffered harsh bruising on his neck—thankfully there would be no permanent damage, Annabeth assured— a broken arm and a twisted ankle, as well as two severely broken ribs which were the cause of the extensive blood loss that had scared them so much.

Annabeth had barely left his side since the incident, even now she was perched in the chair by his cot, fast asleep, her hand intertwined with Percy's, a copy of Architectural Digest resting in her lap. Smiling to himself, Jason placed a small kiss on Piper's forehead before scooping the daughter of Athena up into his arms, intending to carry her to her room. She barely slept at all these days, and if anyone deserved the rest it was Annabeth. He only made it halfway down the hall, however, before she started to wake up.

"What the…" she looked up at him, still slightly dazed, before recognition filtered itself over across features. "Jason come on put me down." She mumbled, still half asleep.

"Yeah I don't think so."

Annoyance flashed over her face, not used to being told no, and she punched at his arm halfheartedly. "I'm fine, put me down."

Jason grinned. "I'll tell you what, answer my next question and I'll put you down. Deal?"

"You're on, Grace."

"What day is it?" Stormy gray eyes glared up at him. It was a low blow and she knew it. The daughter of Athena had barely left the infirmary since incident, and lack of sleep, combined with stress and worry ensured that she wouldn't remember something as trivial as the day of the week.

"That's not fair, I..."

Jason cut her off. "I'm waiting."

Annabeth scowled at him. "Sunday."

"Tuesday," Jason corrected. "Looks like you're benched, Chase." They had reached the her room, and he shifted her in his arms, opening the door. "Now do I need to tuck you in, or can you take it from here?"

"You're just as stubborn as your sister, you know," she retorted, shrugging out of his hold.

"What can I say, it's a family trait."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, before walking into her room, closing the door behind her.

Knowing their conversation was far from over, Jason walked a few paces down the hall, hiding himself around the corner, waiting.

Sure enough, not a minute later, the quiet click of a door opening echoed down the hall, followed by the soft padding of feet against the carpet. He counted down.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

The son of Jupiter stepped out of the shadows, coming face to face with Annabeth.

"So I'm the stubborn one, huh?"

Surprise flashed over her face, a deer in headlights. "Jason."

"Annabeth." He frowned at her. "Going somewhere?"

"Who are you, my mother?" retorted Annabeth, but there was no heat in her words.

Jason made a face at the comparison and Annabeth laughed, the first time in days.

Her face quickly sobered, however, as if she had only just realized what she was doing. "Look, Jason, I appreciate what you're trying to do— I really do, believe me— but I can't just sit up here while Percy's down there alone. I need to be down there because if something else happens to him I won't be able to forgive myself and I just…" Her words were becoming faster and faster, teetering on the edge of hysterics in a way that he had never thought the daughter of Athena would. Angrily, she swiped a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "We still don't know exactly what happened, I…" Her voice broke, "I haven't figured it out yet, but…"

"Hey," Jason cut her off, putting a hand on her shoulder. He arranged his face into the familiar mask, smothering his worry down under it, hiding it from prying eyes. "This isn't your fault, okay? This is not on you. Yeah, we still don't know exactly what happened, but Piper and Percy do, and they'll explain everything when they wake up, and they will wake up, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about right now."

Annabeth had the decency to look semi-assured.

"Besides," Jason continued unperturbed, "when your boyfriend wakes up only to find out that you've collapsed from exhaustion, he's going to have my ass and gods know you wouldn't want that guilt on you." You're a hypocrite, Grace. A dirty, filthy hypocrite.

But this time Annabeth actually did laugh, and the mere look on her face was worth it.

"I think I can manage it, than— "

Out of nowhere memories slammed into him, knocking him from reality.

Piper controlling Phobos' body like a puppet, the words flowing from her mouth as potent as any poison. Percy, face livid, controlling the massive swells of water with mere waves of his hands. Leo's furious yells as Phobos threw Piper to the ground like a rag doll. The look on Hazel's face when Percy's heart stopped in the infirmary and the utter sense of panic that had followed. Percy jackknifing up in bed as Jason sent volts of electricity through his body, shocking him back to life.

The flashes were gone as quickly as they had come, and he found himself back in the hallway, panting, on the floor. "Jason! Jason, hey!" Annabeth was crouched down beside him, concern etched across her face. "You okay?" He nodded, and pushed himself to his feet, stumbling when his legs refused to support his weight. He pitched towards Annabeth. "Whoa! Hey, Jason!" She caught him deftly, lowering him back to the ground before he could collapse. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Jason found his voice. "Y… Yeah I'm fine." Annabeth stared at him pointedly. "I'm fine. Really."

"Uh huh." She sounded unconvinced. "Have you been sleeping?"

"Who are you, my mother?" quipped Jason, earning a glare from the daughter of Athena.

"You may be hurt, Grace, but I will still punch you. Answer the question."

"Enough."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, obviously. You can tell by the way you passed out a minute ago."

Jason opened his mouth to respond, but Annabeth cut him off.

"You know, I cannot believe you. Standing there like you're some sort of perfect blonde role-model, lecturing me on not taking care of myself?"

"I…" He started, but she was on a roll now.

"Yes, I am worried about Percy, and yes that has been distracting me, but at least I show emotion! At least I'm not some mindless Roman grunt."

Jason couldn't find it in him to defend himself. If beating up on him made her feel better than who was he to stop her. She was hurting right now, she needed this.

"You act as if you're better than us, as if you're somehow above us, but you're not. You're a liar and a hypocrite."

That one hurt a little, striking a bit too close to home, but he sat there and took it all the same.

"I mean, don't you care at all that it's been five days, five days, and they still—"

The memories hit him like a truck.

Piper, limp in Annabeth's arms, sobbing. Percy dangling like a rag-doll in Phobos' grasp. The mad gleam in Deimos' eyes. Piper yelling for Phobos to stop, forcing her will upon his. The anger roaring in his ears as he realized he was helpless to do anything. Percy, screaming in the infirmary as volts of electricity bled from his hands, straight into the son of Poseidon's body.

"Jason! Jason, you're fine. Stop it. Hey! Look at me." Someone was shaking him, pulling him back. "Jason please. Just wake up." Whoever it was sounded scared, desperate. He opened his eyes.

"Thank the gods." Annabeth's tear-stained face smiled down at him. They were on the floor again, and he was halfway in her lap, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"What's wrong?" He struggled to remember what happened.

"Y... You just collapsed again. All of a sudden. And then you started seizing, and I just... I didn't know what to do, I mean Percy and Piper are already... and now you too and I..."

He had never seen Annabeth so out of her element before.

"'m sorry."

"What?" She seemed taken aback by his apology. "No it's not your fault. It was me. Oh my gods, I am such an asshole. Jason, I am so sorry. I didn't mean any of that."

Jason gave her a small smile. "It's okay. You were hurting, and you needed an outlet. It's not a big deal."

"No, it is a big deal. You didn't deserve any of that, okay?"

Jason changed the subject. "Look, I'm really sorry I freaked you out with the whole 'passing out' thing." He sat up, pressing his back to the wall, letting it take the full brunt of his weight, and to his surprise, she mimicked his actions, settling herself against the wall next to him.

"Has it happened before?"

"No, never like that." Jason found himself answering before he has a chance to realize what he's doing.

"But it has happened before?"

He nodded, and she mentally filed away the information, face thoughtful.

"Do you… do you see anything or does everything just black out."

"It's like these…" he struggled to find the right words, "these… flashes of memories. Really loud, really fast, and really bright. But they usually only last for a few seconds, I've never actually lost consciousness before."

"Well…" Annabeth started hesitantly, "I'm not a doctor or anything, and I don't want to overstep here, but it sounds like… PTSD," she finished gently.

PTSD. The thought had honestly never even crossed his mind. It just seemed so… common, so normal. Something reserved only for humans.

"Can demigods even have PTSD?" The idea was almost a comfort; he'd thought he was going crazy.

Annabeth laughed. "I know it seems weird, but yeah. She'll probably kill me for telling you this, but your sister actually used to have these black outs. Like she would just completely zone out, couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything. They scared the hell out of me. But then again, I guess being a tree for four years will do that to you. "

"My sister was a tree?" Surely she was joking.

Annabeth winced. "Yeah," she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I thought someone would've told you about that."

Jason didn't even know how to begin processing that.

"But anyway," Annabeth cleared her throat, "the point is that it's a totally normal thing, and it's different for everyone. Considering everything we do I'm amazed it doesn't affect more of us.

Jason just nodded, still trying to digest the information.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

No. Not at all. He and Annabeth had never been close, always friendly, but he couldn't remember a time they'd had a conversation about something that wasn't as trivial as battle strategy or the pros and cons of celestial bronze and imperial gold. And yet somehow he found himself spilling his soul to this girl, the words tumbling out of his mouth one after the other in an endless torrent. They talked for hours, late into the night, and for the first time in days, when Jason closed his eyes, he's met with nothing but darkness.

A/N: A Guest review asked me about adding Piper/Annabeth friendship as well, and I definitely plan to, as well as Percy/Jason. Please feel free to review or DM me with suggestions. Your thoughts are gold to me.