So IDK if any of you heard but…. DISNEY+ IS MAKING A PJO ADAPTION! From what I've heard it's going to be 5 seasons, one for each book, and it's going to be live action. I dunno how I feel about the live action because I personally think it would work best with an animation style similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender or something close to that, but I'm not complaining either way because I'm just so happy right now! The only thing that sucks is that since it's 5 seasons, it's going to be so long before it finishes, and I'll be so old by then. I sincerely hope I haven't moved on from Percy Jackson by then, and that Disney+ IS STILL AROUND in five years… idk why it wouldn't be but hey. Supposedly, Rick is going to be involved with the entire process, so there's no reason it shouldn't come out just it did in like the books.

IMAGINE HOW INCREDIBLE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TO HAVE ALL 5 SERIES TO WATCH DURING QUARANTINE! I can't get hung up on that though because I might literally die.

ANYWAYS…

…

This one-shot takes place during BOO, just after Annabeth and Piper get back from Sparta. I noticed that after Percy and Annabeth got back from Tartarus, they always talked to other people about the time when Percy poisoned Ahklys, but never with each other (because we didn't get any of their POVs). They both have unresolved emotions regarding that incident, but we never get to see them talk about it…

So that's what this is. Hope you enjoy!

I do not PJO/HOO.

…

Jason grinned. 'You got it. How you feeling?'

'Better. I … I have to admit, when I was choking on that poison, I kept thinking about Akhlys, the misery goddess in Tartarus. I almost destroyed her with poison.' He shivered. 'It felt good, but in a bad way. If Annabeth hadn't stopped me –'

'But she did,'Jason said. 'That's another thing friends have to do for each other.'

'Yeah … Thing is, as I was choking just now, I kept thinking: this is payback for Akhlys. The Fates are letting me die the same way I tried to kill that goddess. And … honestly, a part of me felt I deserved it. That's why I didn't try to control the giant's poison and move it away from me. That probably sounds crazy.'

Jason thought back to Ithaca, when he was despairing over the visit from his mom's spirit. 'No. I think I get it.'

….

Annabeth stared at the distant shape of the Argo II floating above downtown Sparta. She fingered the red coral pendant on her necklace – a gift from Percy when they started dating.

'You're thinking about Percy,' Piper guessed.

Annabeth nodded. Since she'd come back from Tartarus, Annabeth had told Piper a lot of scary things that had happened down there. At the top of her list: Percy controlling a tide of poison and suffocating the goddess Akhlys.

'He seems to be adjusting,' Piper said. 'He's smiling more often. You know he cares about you more than ever.'

Annabeth sat, her face suddenly pale. 'I don't know why it's hitting me so hard all of a sudden. I can't quite get that memory out of my head … how Percy looked when he was standing at the edge of Chaos.'

….

'You're angry.'

'At Percy for frightening me,'she said. 'At my mom for sending me on that horrible quest in Rome. At … well, pretty much everybody. Gaia. The giants. The gods for being jerks.'

….

Annabeth POV

The mini party celebrating the girls' return on the deck of the Argo II was short-lived, at least for Annabeth. During the course of Piper and hers filling in the details on what happened in Sparta, Annabeth felt someone place a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see her boyfriend looking at her, with a solemn look on his face.

"We need to talk," Percy said, but he didn't sound enthusiastic about it.

Annabeth nodded. "Your cabin?" she asked, even though she didn't even need him to answer.

They left the rest of the seven chattering about on the main deck, and made their way down the stairs, to the lower level where the cabins were. Annabeth couldn't help but be somewhat anxious about what the impending conversation might be about, and she had to knock some silly ideas out of her head. This Percy that she was seeing, as they entered his dimly lit cabin, seemed every bit as serious as he was back when they were still down in… that place.

Percy closed the door behind her, and then, still holding onto her hand, led them to his bed, where he directed her to sit on the edge before he did so himself as well.

"When Jason and me were under the water," He began, "He mentioned it already, but we ran into Polybotes."

Annabeth was extremely tempted to correct her boyfriend's grammar on the spot, but she knew by his tone when Percy was being extremely serious, and so she dared not interrupt him now.

"He-he used this poison to suffocate me… and I let him."

At these words, Percy let his gaze fall to floor, and his hand threatened to slip out of her own, till she instinctively grabbed it securely. But his words had their intended effect, and her whole body tensed suddenly, her chest heaving somewhat shakily.

"As I was choking there under the water, I kept thinking about Ahklys… and how I almost killed her with her own poison." He looked back at up at her now, his sea-green eyes filled with crystal tears. "I remember, Annabeth, how… how good it felt to do that to her, even if it was in a bad way." Percy's lips were trembling, and his words were mixed with uneasy sobs. "I felt like I deserved to suffocate, like it was payback for what I did to her."

Annabeth wasn't sure how to respond, and so she just watched for a minute, as the most powerful demigod she had ever known, cried in her arms. It gave her time to think however, and to decide what she wanted to say first.

"You were going to let it happen, weren't you?" Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded reluctantly, as he looked up at her with puffy eyes. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth. For everything. I-I remember how scared you looked, watching me control that poison, and it kills me to know that I caused you to look like that. Of all the things you should be scared of; it should never be me… and I'm sorry."

As she stared into his swirling eyes, Annabeth found that she couldn't hide her feelings any longer either. "You definitely frightened me when you did that, Percy, I won't deny it. And ever since we made it out of… Tartarus, I've been so angry. Angry at the gods for taking you away, at my mom for sending me on a quest that ended up with you and I falling into that place, and at you… for doing what you did there on the edge of Chaos."

Percy couldn't have looked more ashamed and regretful.

"Piper gave me some advice back in Sparta," Annabeth continued, "She said to not shut out the feelings… and so, this is me letting them all out." She then shifted on the edge of the bed so that she was directly facing Percy, while he still faced away towards the door. "Hey," Annabeth said, grabbing his chin, and pulling it around to face her, "I was mad at you, for sure. Still am, somewhat. But I know that what you did down there… it's not who you are. I will never be scared of who you are- only of what you could become."

He finally allowed his eyes to meet hers again, and Percy gripped the hand that she had placed on his cheek with his own. "You saved me," he said softly, "Without you, I would probably become exactly what you are afraid of; a boy who can suffocate the goddess of misery with her own poison. It's-it's like you're still my anchor, Annabeth. You have been, this whole time, even without the curse of Achilles."

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

"Like… you're the only thing that keeps me human… or demigod-ish, I guess. Without you, I have no reason to stop choking Ahklys, and I become exactly what I've always been trying to kill… a monster. I know it doesn't make much sense- "

"No, I get it," Annabeth replied. "So, what you're saying is that- "

"You can never leave me," Percy finished for her, a gentle smile forming on his lips.

"Don't plan on it, Hera forbid."

Neither of them laughed at that.

"Is your weak spot still sensitive?" Annabeth asked out of the blue.

"Um… I don't know, I haven't thought about it in so long." He then reached his arm behind his back, slipping it under his shirt, and with impressive flexibility, touched the small of his back. "It just feels normal now," He said after a moment.

Annabeth watched as he pulled his arm out from behind his back, before she shifted closer to him, her mind full of inquisitiveness. Percy observed as she sidled up next to him, and reached her arm around behind his back, before sneaking her hand up under his shirt. She chortled at the blush that crept up on his face. As she approached the small of his back with her hand, Annabeth kept a keen gaze on his face. His eyes grew more illuminated the closer her hand came to his former mortal point, and his cheeks lost their color, becoming a luminescent pale shade.

When her first finger finally made contact with the skin of his back, right in between his shoulder blades, she felt a burning sensation, like that feeling you get when you stick your hand in water so hot your nerves become overloaded. Percy shivered.

"It tingles," He said nonchalantly.

Annabeth withdrew her hand from his back. "I'm still mad at you."

"I wouldn't blame you if you never stopped being mad at me for that."

She shook her head, "I'm not talking about Ahklys."

Percy had an expression of genuine confusion, but she decided to let him figure it out on his own. It didn't take long, and his features drooped once again.

"You were going to let him kill you," Annabeth said sternly, "Without even trying to live, trying to make it back to us… back to me."

"It wasn't like that- "

"Stop it, Percy. It doesn't matter. You just gave this whole speech about how you can't live without me, and yet, you were going to let me go on without you? Like you didn't realize that I can't go on without you." Her voice was irate if anything, and no doubt her eyes were as terrifying as ever. "Don't you see, Percy? I may not have a physical spot like you do, but you're my tether to this world just as much as I am yours."

The whole time she spoke, Percy could only watch with a reprehensible look on his face. As she stared at him, Annabeth felt all of the anger she had kept pent up this whole time pouring out, and it kept coming, until it seemed she had finally run out. Her tone slowly became more composed, and the frustration in her eyes gave way to compassion.

"If you ever so much as think about leaving me willingly again, Perseus Jackson, I swear- "

Annabeth couldn't believe the absolute audacity of this guy. To think that kissing her would make her forget everything, or make her forgive him so easily. Well… his lips did taste pretty great, but that didn't matter, because she was still really upset. Or was she? No, no she wasn't… wait, yes, she was. It was just her mind going haywire from the kiss- that stupid, incredible kiss from that stupid, dirty rotten, seaweed-brained, good-looking boyfriend of hers, with that infuriating, crooked, troublemaker smile of his. Annabeth loved that smile.

Their mouths broke finally, but the tingling sensation lingered on her chapped lips.

"You were saying?" Percy asked innocently.

"I-uh… um."

He chuckled, and then jumped from his spot on the edge, and crawled his way across his bed so that he was leaning against the wall. Staring back at her now, Percy opened his arms, inviting her to join him.

"I'm still mad at you," Annabeth said pointedly, as she scooted over towards him. She leaned her back against his chest, and her head fell back against his shoulder, as he wrapped both of his arms around her.

"I know, and I'm still sorry," Percy replied, before giving her cheek a soft peck. "I promise I'll never leave you… willingly."

They sat there in silence, just enjoying each other's presence for a few minutes, until Annabeth whispered softly, "Tell me more about New Rome."

He couldn't seem to believe that she had requested such a thing.

"You… you wanna know more about New Rome?"

She nodded, "You said you had an idea, right? About going there after graduation?"

"Well, yeah. But I wasn't sure if you were such a fan of the idea- "

"I wasn't really sure at first," Annabeth admitted, "But now, ask me what I would give for such a future." She turned her head, so that she was looking up into his eyes, "A future with you, obviously."

Percy smiled, and kissed her forehead tenderly. "I love you."

"I love you too," She replied, "Now get to telling." She felt his chest move against her back as he chuckled softly, and his arms felt warm and secure around her. Annabeth would always have that fear of what Percy could become, but she also knew that as long as they had each other, she would always feel the most protected and safe when she was with him.

The daughter of Athena smiled softly, as she listened to her boyfriend, the son of Poseidon, talk about New Rome, and their future, with the Argo II sailing on towards Athens.

….

If you guys have any ideas for some scenes or moments you thought were missing from BOO or any of the HOO series, let me know. I already have a few more moments planned out, but I would love to see if there's any I'm forgetting. Love u guys!