Chapter Text
“Do you, I don’t know, ever actually leave the museum? You always seem to be here” Piper greeted, wandering into the staff room gracefully and sitting herself down on one of the old sofas, looking carefree and effortlessly gorgeous as always. Annabeth had this theory that Piper had superpowers that made her look perfect all the time, and so far she had not once been proved wrong; At the staff party last year, Annabeth had puked in the wastepaper basket after several shots (she would never take anything from Leo again) and Piper hadn’t even broken a sweat, just took the alcohol like a champ and continued to dance in those killer heels she wore. Although, considering the amount of Superheroes in Olympus, Annabeth would not be surprised if Piper actually did have powers. Piper did seem like the hero type.
“I can vouch that she does; and she always seems to come home the minute I get Luke’s shirt off” Thalia butted in from across the room, holding a coffee in her hand and giving Annabeth an irritated look, made more threatening by the thick eyeliner she wore, smudged from where she’d rubbed it drowsily. It wasn’t Annabeth’s fault that Thalia and Luke couldn’t just hurry up and do it before she got home; and always decided to get personal on the couch instead of somewhere more private, like the bedroom Thalia seems to forget she owns. Seriously, Annabeth is scarred for life, coming home to find her two best friends defiling her couch. She’s had it deep-cleaned. Twice.
“Maybe that’s why I’m always here; preventing myself from being scarred for life” Annabeth muttered, and Piper snickered, budging up on the couch as the rest of the staff filed in, yawning and grabbing coffee from the old machine that had been in the staff room since before she started working here. Annabeth caught Piper staring at the cute guy that worked on the Roman section of the museum, Thalia’s younger brother Jason, and she grinned.
“Ask him out” She whispered, nudging her. Piper shook her head, her braids flicking dangerously close to her neighbour’s faces. Frank flinched a little as the hair whipped his cheek, and Annabeth hid her smirk.
“I can’t; what if he says no?” She whispered back, watching the blonde curse as the coffee machine spluttered pathetically.
“To you? He’d have to be crazy”
And that was true, because Piper was a knockout, and really sweet too.
“Alright settle down” A voice called, and the boss, Chiron, entered the room in his wheelchair. Annabeth loved Chiron; he was like a father to her, and as the leader of the superheroes of Olympus, he was one of the only ones she could really be herself around, because he was the only one who knew both her identities- besides Thalia of course. He adjusted the collar of his tweed jacket and smiled around the room.
“Glad to see you all here on time” He said pointedly, eyeing Leo, who had already drank two cups of coffee and was twitching with his hyperactive energy. It was rare to actually see Leo at work; even when he was here he spent his time racing around the corridor or blowing stuff up in the basement. Annabeth was sure he should’ve been fired by now, but she assumed that Chiron had a soft spot for him. There were a few chuckles, before Chiron gestured for everyone to be quiet again.
“We have a new employee today, who will begin working in the Greek mythology section, as the weapons cleaner” He announced. Annabeth sighed in relief; they’d been missing someone to touch up the weapons since Clarisse got moved over to customer management (literally the worst place for her, she wasn't a 'people' person), they’d been looking far too dull and dusty, and as it wasn’t her job, Annabeth couldn’t just go and do it herself. Piper had to wrestle her away from the cleaning supplies, and she sulked for hours.
“Where is he boss?” Thalia asked, looking around the room obviously “He kind of needs to be here to do the job”
“Well, he’s already gone to work; setting an example to the rest of you, who enjoy slacking off. Now go on, we’ll be opening soon” Chiron said, and everyone got to their feet, trudging out of the room in various states of fatigue.
“I wonder what he’s like; do you think he’s cute?” Piper asked, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“Why does it matter?” She asked “You like someone else”
Piper just shrugged and smiled.
“Its always nice to have a good-looking guy to look at, even if you’re not interested. It just makes you feel good” She said, and then she sauntered away to her department, leaving Annabeth shaking her head in amusement behind her.
Annabeth liked her job; she liked that she could lose herself in the art, making sure that it was all in order and the descriptions on displays and artefacts were correct. She liked that she could sit and translate the Greek and Latin for the public, and solve the riddles of old forgotten languages and what they were trying to say. Annabeth was reading through the huge chunk of Latin she’d been handed by Silena, slowly working her way through, when Piper hopped onto her desk, scattering her notes and important translations that should stay in a certain order. Annabeth could just throttle her.
“What?” She snapped, trying not to lose her focus, scrambling for her notes. She could feel Piper’s ‘I’ve got gossip’ grin glaring into her head, and she knew the woman wouldn't leave easily. She hated that grin; all it did was stop her from getting much needed work done.
“I’ve just seen the new guy, and he is hotter than that one statue on the third floor- you know the one we can’t go near anymore?” She beamed, apparently over the moon that the new employee was hot. Annabeth just huffed as she lost where she was up to, and glared up at Piper.
“I’m trying to work, Pipes” She snapped, annoyed now she'd have to spend more time re-organising her system.
“Oh come on, you don’t enjoy that, do you? Take a break, before you get an aneurysm” She said, trying to pull the text away. Annabeth held on tight and practically growled until Piper got the message and left, laughing the whole way. She never quite understood that work time was alone time. Although, Piper probably thought she was doing Annabeth some good. She’d be back at lunchtime with more gossip, Annabeth could already predict it.
This happened constantly throughout the day; first it was all the girls who approached, grinning from ear to ear as they relayed stories about the attractive new guy as Annabeth was the only one who hadn't gone to look for herself; they should know by now that she really didn't care. Drew didn’t leave for an hour, at which point Annabeth was banging her head against the desk because Drew was really annoying when she rambled about stupid things. Which meant that Annabeth was in a foul mood leaving work.
Ergo, Annabeth was in a foul mood when she went on patrol, and that was bad news for every criminal she encountered.
Annabeth was one of Olympus’ finest superheroes; using her powers to protect her city from harm, and she did a damn good job. Her alter-ego was named Night Owl- because Annabeth’s powers included sprouting feathers and flying up high, and being able to spot crimes from miles away. She was also scarily smart, but that wasn’t exactly a superpower no matter how much she wanted it to be. She didn't have big, impressive powers like the rest of the team, but she was good at what she did, and she got on with her job just fine.
“Maybe you’ll think twice about trying to run next time” She hissed, as she threw a guy into the back of a police truck with enough force to make the whole vehicle wobble.
“Jeez Night Owl, what twisted your feathers?” Nico asked, slamming the doors and trying not to look impressed. He did a terrible job. Annabeth tried not to look too smug; she knew she was badass.
“Nothing, just work. Everyone is going on about this ‘hot new guy’, and it’s annoying” She grumbled, and he laughed, adjusting his gun at his belt.
“Yeah, we had that problem about a month back; but Jackson has left now, so it’s all calmed down. He didn’t seem to settle very well” He said, and Annabeth shrugged. She noticed that he looked a little disappointed. She always wondered about Nico’s preferences, since he always seemed to give Blue Spark a second glance, but then who was she to judge? Blue Spark was pretty eye-catching in that skin-tight suit of his. It almost wasn’t fair.
“Yeah well, I’m hoping all the buzz will be gone by tomorrow, and I can actually do my work” She said, thinking about that Latin she had to read through.
“If it doesn’t, just demand to be paid for saving our asses and quit your day job; we’ll make a superheroes tax or something and you can live on that” Nico suggested, dark eyes looking mischievous. Annabeth smiled.
“I’ll consider it. See ya Sherrif”
“Bye Night Owl”
Nico got into the van and Annabeth took off into the sky, looking for more criminals to beat up. Maybe her irritation would wear off by the time she got home.
“Hey! Nice to see you!” A voice called, and Annabeth sighed. Great, just what she needed. Typhoon had found her.
Typhoon was a strange one to judge, Annabeth thought. Chiron had nothing but disapproving admiration for him, whilst some of the others got annoyed that he always swooped in and took their catch. He didn’t seem to be a part of the whole superhero club that Annabeth and the others were in; he did his own thing, all on his own, showing up out of no where a few years ago and jumping in on the action- She envied the alone thing, but not when he took all the credit for her work. Annabeth was a little torn on her opinion of him; Typhoon was impulsive, and didn’t seem to have much of a brain in that head of his, but he was brave and he helped her out on her patrols. The problem was the guy wouldn’t shut up for two minutes, or leave her alone for the same amount of time. On a night where Annabeth wanted to put away criminals in peace, she’d rather avoid the irritating rouge hero.
“Typhoon” She greeted stiffly, and he swooped in on his signature wave, flying along beside her with a grin. He always wore a skin-tight suit, black and blue like dark water, that covered every inch of him except his mouth and strong jaw. He was leaner and shorter than Blue Spark, but Annabeth knew from experience he was just as strong. Sometimes she wondered if there was more power in him than he was revealing, but then she’d hate to be a hypocrite and pry into his life when she hated everyone prying into hers. Especially him.
“You seem a little stressed from the way you threw that guy into the Sheriff’s truck Wise Girl; what’s up?” He asked, that same smug grin on his stupid face. She gritted her teeth.
“Don’t call me Wise Girl”
“Oh right, you’re Night Owl now, ever since I helped save your ass from that fire” He boasted, and she rolled her eyes.
“Inferno caused that fire; it was part of the plan” She said, shaking her head feathers self-consciously. Most of them were charred black from the flames still, even years later.
“What, the plan to roast you like a chicken? Just thank me and I’ll move on” Typhoon said, and Annabeth pulled a face. She admits the plan went a little awry, but she did not need saving. Typhoon just butted in as usual. She was not going to inflate his head even more by showing any gratitude.
“Are you giving me the silent treatment? Aw, come on Night Owl, don’t be like that” He said, following as Annabeth settled on a rooftop where she could see the majority of town. The cars weaving in and out of each other, hurrying home full of Christmas presents ready to be wrapped; shoppers meandering down the streets, arms weighed down by bags from various shops. It was like a scene from a movie, all it needed was some snow.
“You got all your presents yet?” Typhoon asked “Put them under the tree?”
“I don’t really do all that stuff anymore” Annabeth shrugged. Typhoon looked appalled; well, his jaw did. He gaped, and Annabeth just focused on the shoppers and the happy couples and the small children swinging off their parent’s arms.
“You don’t celebrate Christmas? Why not?” He demanded. He sounded like a child who’d just heard that their friend didn’t like sweets. As if it was some sort of crime.
“I just don’t, I don’t have to explain myself to you” Annabeth snapped, the way she always did when people asked her questions.
“Come on, we don’t know each other outside of these costumes. Its not like I’m gonna show up at your house with a turkey and a tree. You don’t have to be so mysterious” He said.
“I’m not, I just don’t wanna talk about it”
“You’re not going to make friends with an attitude like that” Typhoon chimed. Annabeth glared.
“I don’t want to make friends” She told him “Especially not with idiots like you”
“Aw, now my mom always says that if she calls you an idiot she cares” He sing-songed.
“Don’t think I won’t push you off this roof if you don’t shut up” She threatened. If anything, Typhoon just looked happier.
“Ah, there’s that feisty Wise-Girl that I know and Love, swearing and getting all her feathers rumpled- ack!”
Annabeth hadn’t even registered pushing Typhoon; she just saw him slip off the edge of the roof and out of sight, the sound of several trash cans being hit-full force reaching her ears a few seconds later. Annabeth looked up in content, and saw a familiar shape springing across the rooftops.
“I’ll take you seriously next time” Typhoon groaned, and Annabeth grinned.
“Its always nice to see you Typhoon, but my shift is over; have fun with Blue Spark”
And she took off, humming slightly, listening to Blue Spark laughing at Typhoon's misfortune. She would have to push Typhoon off a building more often, the higher the better.
“Hey- oh really Thals?!” Annabeth yelped, almost falling back out of the window when she found Thalia stark naked on the floor. Thalia grabbed a blanket that had been crumpled on the floor and covered herself, trying to look as dignified as possible whilst Annabeth pointedly looked away, far too used to sights like this when she came home.
“At least we were done this time! Take your feathers off, before he comes back from the bathroom!” She hissed, looking toward the closed bathroom door frantically. Despite being Thalia’s long-term boyfriend of five years, Luke still didn’t know that Annabeth was Night Owl, and Thalia was the famous (but very much retired) Huntress. Thalia didn’t want him to know in case it put him in danger (because the bad guys liked using loved-ones as bait) and Annabeth didn’t push her.
“Do you even know you own a bedroom? With a door? A room that I won’t go in?” Annabeth whisper-shouted, and Thalia rolled her eyes.
“Could you at least call before you come home?”
“Oh I’m sorry, let me just pull my phone out of my non-existent pockets!”
“Get a damn ear piece!”
“I’ll give you a-“
The bathroom door opened and Annabeth dived across the room, sprinting for her bedroom and slamming the door behind her just as Luke emerged. She leant against the door and let out a breath of relief, sliding down to the floor.
"Sorry Annie!" Luke laughed from the other room, and she rolled her eyes.
"Tell that to my offended eyeballs!" She yelled back. She heard he and Thalia giggling. Assholes.
Annabeth let her powers recede as she leaned against her door, return to her normal self, all the feathers vanishing and her eyes turning from orange to grey. Her hair turned back to its usual blonde curls and she gratefully unzipped the suit she wore. It got a little tight after a long shift, pulled at her aching muscles, and she always enjoyed taking it off after a long night.
She only just managed to drag herself up and to bed instead of passing out right there, though how she had no clue. She just wanted to sleep.