A/N: Everything that needs to be said will be said after the chapter. PLEASE read that Author's note.

Disclaimer: I own naught but the clothes on my back.

Song: Blue by Sherman Downey

Quote: "I've been saving it for a rainy day." "Well it's storming like a bitch." – Once Upon A Time

Enjoy : )

Nico POV

I sulked the whole car ride to Ottawa.

Because of the laistrygonians, we'd had to take a detour (as in drive to some small town about five hours from our final destination). We had made good time, and were about two hours away when the wind suddenly picked up. It was strong enough to make the van sway from side to side. Ten minutes later I could hear it whistling – even through the blasting of Underoath's 'Writing On The Walls', which is saying a lot. Someone shook my shoulder. I turned to see that it was Celia. I took off one of my headphones (vintage from the 80's – not necessarily fashionable, but awesome), and I glared at her.

"What?" I demanded harshly. She winced slightly, and for a second, I felt sorry.

"Annabeth told me to tell you that we were pulling over and she wanted you to navigate." She flashed me a blinding smile. I scowled in response.

"Is Percy so useless that he can't read a map?" I complained, glad to have someone to get mad at. "Besides, why can't Annabeth ask me herself?"

"Nico, stop being a bitch," Katie warned, "Or I swear that I will throw you out of this van without a second's hesitation."

"Yes, mother."

"Cut the sass, di Angelo," Annabeth yelled at me from the driver's seat. "And do what you're told." I wanted to punch them all in the face.

"Whatever." I grabbed the map from Katie and told Annabeth that the nearest convenience stop was a good 30-plus-miles away.

"Fucking Canadian wilderness," She cursed. "All right everyone, hold on to your hats and pray with all you have." All of a sudden, an extremely strong gust of wind pushed the van off the road. Annabeth slammed on the brakes and did her best to stop the van from rolling. It was no use. We rolled down the side of the road and into a ditch, landing on the van's side. The combined weight of Celia and a passed out Percy was enough to make me grunt in pain.

"Does everybody still have four limbs?" Katie asked form the front. The jolt of a van rolling down a hill had been enough for Percy to rouse from his deep slumber.

"What the…" He mumbled drowsily. I rolled my eyes, despite the feeling of my bones being crushed. What a dork.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth snorted, "Can anybody open their door? Katie kicked her door, and it flew open. Either Katie Gardner has freakishly strong legs, or the door was already so damaged it was just about ready to fall off anyways.

I think the latter is much more believable (but the former so much cooler!).

Anyways, Katie had managed to hoist herself out of the broken door, using Annabeth as a stool. I know this because she let out a string of curses that would make a sailor blush. She climbed out next, then Percy, Celia, and lastly Nico the Great. By the time I had gotten out, they had busted open the trunk and were handing out armour and weapons. My skull helmet was thrust into my chest along with the rest of my obsidian armour.

Now, I'm not one to brag, but I look damn sexy in that stuff. Plus, who wouldn't feel totally awesome wearing full Greek battle armour? Exactly. I pressed a button on my belt and my sheathed Stygian iron sword extended (it was my way of keeping my sword hidden from mortal eyes. Basically it was an extra buckle on my belt – no, that doesn't mean I wear the same pants everyday, my belt appeared on me every time I got dressed.). A meter and a half of black iron that could part any crowd, living or dead. I let my helmet rest on the top of my head, not wanting to look like the Grim Reaper all day.

"All right everybody, listen up!" Annabeth called out. We all turned towards her. I noticed Celia holding her side lightly. "I'm going to contact Alice back at camp, seeing as it is her quest. Percy, you and Nico can take the tent and set up a camp somewhere off the road. Katie, Celia – you two go gather up some firewood, maybe see if there are edible plants." I let Percy carry the ten and walked ahead of him.

'Hey grouch-ass, get back here and help!" I turned around and saw the stupid idiot struggling to carry the tent, the cooking pots and a cooler full of food. I smacked myself in the forehead.

"Annabeth said to bring the tent," I said rolling my eyes, "Not the whole damn van." Percy got a nostalgic look on his face, as if remembering something.

'Take a picture for a dam souvenir," He growled playfully. "The day Percy Jackson was defeated by kitchenware." I chuckled at how easily Percy could make fun of himself.

"Why did you take all of this shit anyways?" I asked curiously, taking the tent out of his arms. I had a feeling that I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear him say it.

"Well, in my very long experience with certain people," Percy said, readjusting the cooler in his hands, "It's always prudent to think ahead. See, if had left this stuff in the van, Annabeth would have gotten mad at me for making extra work. This was, even if she gets mad, I have a good argument." I nodded my head appreciatively.

"So basically you're being a kiss-ass so you can get her back?" I raised my eyebrows at him. The hero who saved Olympus blushed bashfully.

"That's the plan."

"You're smooth, Jackson, I'll give you that."

"You would do well to learn from me, young demigod."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I dropped the tent bag and drew my sword, all my forgotten anger resurfacing.

"Wow, a sword. That's going to hurt so much." Percy said sarcastically. "It's not like I'm, you know, invincible, or anything." I let my sword hang from my hand, seething with anger. "I just meant that you still have to learn how to deal with girls. Take that Iris Message with Jace last night-" I cut him off.

"Would you have done any different?" I asked coldly. "Would you have sent out a dozen skeleton warriors just because she needed some dude to get her to the other side of the border?" I stabbed my sword frustratedly into the frozen, snow-covered ground. The surrounding ground cracked and Percy took a step back.

"Honestly?" he said. "No. But you definitely could have handled the situation better. Now Jace and Thalia are stuck at camp until they find another way out – which will probably be ten times more dangerous." I studied that cracked ground at my feet. Silently, I pulled my sword out of the snow.

'I don't think you understand," I growled, "I can't even bring myself to think about harming her. Everything I do now, it all revolves around her. And as much as I can't, I hate her for it." In the distance I could hear Celia chattering away to Katie about natural medicines.

"This is as good a place as any for a camp," Percy said gently, and together we began pitching the tent.

Percy POV

After Nico and I had finished with the tent, he made some nice big stones pop up from the ground and I arranged them into a nice fire pit. I took the firewood that Katie and Celia had collected and began building a fire. I glanced from time to time at Nico, making sure he hadn't committed suicide (from his mood, I wouldn't be surprised).

"Percy?" A small female voice said from behind me. It was a timid looking Celia.

"What's up? Is everything okay?" I ask, getting off my knees and brushing my hands off on my pants.

'Um, I think so. Annabeth wants to talk to you. She's about fifty feet behind the tent." Celia smiled encouragingly at me. I thanked her and went to find Annabeth.

When I found her, she was sitting on a dead tree trunk, head in hands. I sat down beside her and nudged her gently. She looked up, and I noticed how different she looked in the faint sunlight that was trickling through the tree branches like golden water. Her hair was messy, and her grey eyes seemed…dull. They weren't full of life like I remembered.

"Hey, are you all right?" I asked gently, "Do you need anything? Water? A hug?" She smiled sadly at me.

"No, but the people at camp might," Annabeth said, "When I spoke to Alice, she told me that there had been an attack on camp."

'What?" I exclaimed, and the beautiful girl beside me nodded morosely. "Another one? What was it this time?"

"A full telkhine army, a dozen giants and a baby drakon made it past the camp's borders." She ran a hand through her hair. "I guess someone from inside camp gave them permission. My only question is who would want to do something like that?" She looked into my eyes, as if searching for answers there. I did the same to her.

"Was anyone hurt?" I asked. She nodded her head. "Why would anyone do that?" Annabeth just shook her head.

"I don't know, Percy, I wish I did." All of a sudden she threw her knife angrily into a nearby tree. I was surprised at the sudden action of frustration. 'Why the fuck," Annabeth seethed, "Would anybody do this? Don't they realise how much we sacrificed? Has everyone fucking forgotten?" She stood up and began pacing angrily. I rubbed my temples and looked at her. A tear streaked down her cheek. I got up quickly.

'hey, it's okay," I said gently, and I touched her arm. "No one died…did they?" All of a sudden, it hit me. The reason Annabeth was letting herself cry, why she was so shook up. "How many?" I asked gravely, my face chalk white.

"Seven. We lost seven campers last night." She turned away from me. I felt my stomach drop.

"Who?" No answer. "Annabeth, who died?" Again, no answer. "Annabeth."

"Malcolm is gone. So is Jake Mason, and…" She choked on her words. She ran over to a bush and puked. My throat closed up. Malcolm and Jake were two of my best friends. I saw Annabeth wipe her mouth. I grabbed my water skin from my belt and offered it to her. Her eyes were red, but she took the water and rinsed out her mouth thoroughly. She handed it back to me.

Then she broke down.

Her sobs filled the air. I may have lost friends, but Annabeth had lost her brother, and her friends. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly to my body. I rubbed her back soothingly. Her tears soak into my jacket and I could feel her shaking. I buried my face in her hair, tears of my own falling.

Even though I knew that Annabeth wouldn't care if I cried, I felt that somebody had to remain strong, if not just for her, then for every demigod out there. I pulled myself together as she pulled away.

She hid her face, sniffling. I grabbed her hands. Annabeth turned to look at me. I stared into her mesmerising eyes. They were rimmed with red, and a few tears were slowly making their way down her nose and cheeks.

"It's going to be all right," I said, hoping my voice sounded more confident than I felt. "It's going to be all right, I promise." I squeezed her hand, and gave her a smile. She tried to smile back, but it looked more like a grimace. Her eyes were drawing me in like whirlpools. Her face was getting closer, and I was no longer in control of my body.

This is it, I thought, This is your chance. Our noses touched. Then our lips. And it was everything I remembered. Soft and sweet, but passionate and fiery. Kissing Annabeth again only made me want more. I couldn't stop, I just held on to her for dear life, moving my lips with hers, our bodies melting into each other. I pulled back reluctantly, needing to breathe. We looked at each other hesitantly, unsure of what was going to happen next.

"We should tell the others." She said it quietly, her voice breaking. I grabbed her hand, hoping that this meant we were alright, and together we walked back to the campsite.

Hello. This is it for me and this story. I had this chapter on my computer for a year. But I felt bad uploading it, because after this…there is nothing.

I hope you liked that last bit of Percabeth.

If you have any ideas, any ways that you think I could continue this story, PM me. Who knows, maybe I'll let you continue it! But my brain has shifted focus! I know that you are all PJO fans, but if there are any HP fans among you, please go read my other stuff!

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, to the people who have stuck with me even though my updating was shitty and really hasn't been happening at all. Thanks to anyone who maybe didn't review, but read this story. Thanks to anyone who just stumbled upon this now. Thanks to EVERYONE, thanks to people who flamed, who said the nicest things, who even just said, "Nice, I like it!" who said, "OMG UPDATE!" or who typed up these beautifully long reviews that quite honestly made my day.

So please, make my day once more. For the last time on this story, please leave me a review, let me know that even through my horrible updates, my terrifying writing at the beginning, you still find a way to keep this story in your mind.

I'm leaving this story in your capable hands. Maybe think up some ideas. PM me if you want the so-called "rights".

May the Force be with you, and may you live long and prosper.