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Percy
The last time I slept, I was in Tartarus. I'm not counting being possessed by the anti-fire giant dude because that was not sleeping. THAT was being knocked out by weird gas stuff. Trust me, there's a difference.
In Tartarus, I woke up with Annabeth next to me. She was the only thing that kept me from going insane.
Now I'm in my room in the Argo II. Annabeth is across the hall. I don't want to go to sleep. I keep seeing his- Tartarus's- face in the darkness of my room. It will probably be worse when I fall asleep. I really hate nightmares.
I snap awake to screaming. I don't remember falling asleep, but I've heard the scream enough times to know who it is. Throwing my blanket off, I bolt out my bedroom door. Frank is already standing in her doorway, sleepy-eyed. He steps aside, yawning, as I rush past. Piper is at Annabeth's bed, shaking her, trying to wake her. I shove Piper aside, perhaps a bit harshly, and kneel beside Annabeth's bed. She's having a nightmare. She's thrashing. Her breathing is uneven, gasping as if she can't get enough air.
"Annabeth!" I shout as she screams again. I shake her. She doesn't wake up.
I sit on the bed next to her and pin her arms to her sides. Then I lean down toward her ear.
"Annabeth!"
She finally jolts awake, sitting up fast. I move back so I don't get hit by her head.
"Percy?" Annabeth whispers.
"I'm right here." I wrap my arms around her.
"I had a dream that we were still in...," she mumbles into my shirt.
I rub my hand in slow circles across her back. "I know. We're out. It's okay. We're together."
She leans her head against my chest. I close my eyes.
We sit like that for a few moments, me holding her. Then I hear a scuffle behind me. I turn around and see Piper, Frank, and Hazel standing by the door. Hazel is leaving the room, which is what I heard. Annabeth sees them too and pulls away from me.
"Night, Seaweed Brain."
"You too, Wise Girl."
I caress her cheek, stand up, and slowly walk to the door. I look back and Annabeth shakilly pulls her covers up to her chin and gives me a thumbs-up. Her eyes don't match the gesture. I shut her door behind me.
"Will you guys be okay?" Piper asks. She waited for me in the hallway.
I give a noncommittal shrug, then shake my head, "Not anytime soon, if at all.
"If you guys need to, you know, stay together at night... we won't judge."
"Yeah. Thanks." It feels weird getting reassurance from someone younger than me.
"Anyway, goodnight."
"Yeah. You also."
I walk back into my room and shut the door, but I can't fall asleep. I lie in my bed and stare at the ceiling.
***
Annabeth
I thought Tartarus would kill me. I also thought, if I got out, I would be okay. As a daughter of Athena, I am ashamed that I was wrong on both accounts. Well, I'm glad I didn't die.
The nightmare was vivid, as I remember the scene well. It was Percy, dying of Gorgon's blood.
I can't sleep. Percy came in earlier and woke me from the nightmare. Now I'm lying awake staring at the ceiling. Like I've been doing for about thirteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
I can't do this anymore. I keep seeing Tartarus's face in the blackness. Kicking my covers off, I stand and tiptoe out to the hallway. Percy's door opens silently, but the floorboards creak under my feet. The shape on the bed turns toward me. He must have been awake because I know it takes much more than a creak to wake him.
He looks at me as I stand in his doorway, suddenly aware of how short my owl-print nightgown is.
He sits up and scoots closer to the wall.
"Come 'ere," he mumbles as he pats the space next to him on the bed.
I take a deep breath, walk over to the bed, and lay down facing Percy. He pulls the covers over me. I'm lying on a bed next to my boyfriend. We've slept next to each other dozens of times. When you're on a quest in the middle of nowhere, you kind of have to huddle together for warmth. Then there's the time in the stables. But this is different.
"Why weren't you sleeping?" I ask.
He reaches up to my shoulder and traces his fingers down my arm until my hand is in his, "I couldn't fall back asleep."
I squeeze his hand, "Did I wake you up earlier?"
"Yeah, but it's no biggie."
"Sorry."
We fall into silence. Not awkward silence, just I'm-really-really-tired silence.
I kiss him quickly. Then I turn so that my back is at his chest and pull his arm over my shoulders. He shifts so his other arm is wrapped around me also. He hugs me tight.
"'Night, Annabeth," he whispers into my ear.
"Goodnight, Percy," I say.
***
Percy
Annabeth looks like a corpse. She's horrified. She's yelling at me to stop controlling the poisons. I don't understand why. She points at Akhlys and suddenly, it's her who I'm killing, drowning with poisons.
I wake with a start. Annabeth is kneeling over me, shaking me. Her face, lit by the hallway light, is covered with tears. Annabeth doesn't cry unless something is really wrong. I remember how her face looked when she had been covered with the death mist. It was the most horrifying thing I ever experienced.
A sob racks my body.
Annabeth leans down to whisper in my ear, "We're not there anymore, Percy. It's okay. We're together."
I start taking deeper breaths to get control of my breathing. Every time I blink I see Annabeth as a corpse.
"Seaweed Brain, we're together."
The nickname makes me smile through the pain of the dream, "I know, Wise Girl, I know."
When I open my eyes, It takes me a moment to figure out where I am. I'm not in Tartarus, I'm in my bed on the Argo II. Next to me... is Annabeth. She's still sleeping, which is strange because usually I'm the one to sleep in. I wonder how late it is.
***
Annabeth
I wake to Frank standing over me. Me and Percy.
"Why do I have to be the one to always find you guys like this?" he asks.
"Because you're too innocent," Percy says from behind me. My back is still pressed to his chest.
Frank's red face becomes even more bright.
I sit up, "Frank, do you guys need us?"
"In 20, yeah."
"Okay, great."
He scurries out of the room.
I scoot back down, snuggling into the crook of Percy's arm.
"What did you dream about?" I ask.
"The poisons, when I was dealing with Ms Misery. You were telling me to stop, and then you were her and I was killing you," Percy replies. His voice is raspy. "What about yours?"
"The arai and the Gorgon's blood."
"Yeah, that stuff is real nasty." His mouth twists into a mischievous smile. "Since we still have a few minutes...," Tugging me closer, he touches his lips to mine.
We walk into the dining hall, maybe a teeny-tiny-little-bit later than when Frank asked us to be here. Everyone obviously knows about last night's sleeping arrangement. Percy sits, and I cuddle in next to him. The dining hall goes silent.
"Glad you could join us," Reyna says, looking a bit jealous about how close Percy and I are sitting.
Jason glares at Reyna, "Seriously?"
"Hey," I say to Jason, "it's fine. Sorry we're late." The second part is directed at Reyna.
Over breakfast we figure out the plan for the Athena Parthenos and what the next step in our quest is.
I'm sitting on my bunk organizing some papers when I think about how much easier it would be to use Daedalus's laptop (which has a built-in scanner) to organize them. Then I remember I lost the laptop in Tartarus. Thinking about that place reminds me about how it was like a living thing. I fight the urge to throw up. Then I start to cry. Sobs rack my body. I feel like I'm crying about everything that's happened in the last week, not just the body of Tartarus. I try to take deep breaths but I can't calm down.
"Hey...," Reyna says from my doorway. I didn't even notice she was there. "Are you alright?"
I nod and wipe my face with my sleeve. New tears replace the ones I wiped away.
Reyna cautiously walks to my bed and sits beside me. She gingerly pats my shoulder, which only makes me cry more. Then Reyna does something completely unexpected. She gives me a hug.
So I do something unexpected. I hug her back.
***
Percy
Nico, Reyna, and Hedge left a few hours ago. Jason demanded that Annabeth and I go to sleep early because he doesn't want "exhausted half-bloods" defending the ship. We tried to protest, but... we are both really tired. It seems that place takes a long time to recover from. I don't know if we'll ever recover.
After I brush my teeth and put on sleepwear, I find myself standing in Annabeth's doorway. She's in bed, sitting against the wall with her knees tucked to her chest.
"Hey," she says tightly.
"Hey, um, I was wondering if... maybe I could sleep here," I say. It sounds more like a question than a statement.
Annabeth visibly relaxes, "Yeah, that would be fine, nice actually."
I smile and step into her room, closing the door behind me. Then I flick her light switch off and reach the bed in two strides. It's pitch black, but I scoot under the covers and find Annabeth's hand. I pull her into a tight embrace and kiss her forehead. She uses her free hand to push herself up so we're breathing the same air. Then she closes the gap between our lips.
As we're drifting off Annabeth murmurs into my ear.
"I love you, Seaweed Brain."
"I love you too, Wise Girl."