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Usually when Percy didn’t know what to do, he’d ask Annabeth. But that wasn’t exactly an option.
At the moment, Annabeth was anywhere but present. She was in her room, again, and she hadn’t been out all day. He knew she did that sometimes, but this time was different.
When he poked his head in past the door, she wasn’t at her desk, but sitting on the floor, against her bed.
Crying.
Annabeth hardly ever cried, but even she had her breaking point. Her face was buried in her knees, her teddy bear tucked in her lap and a small piece of paper in her hand; an old photograph maybe? He couldn’t see much else besides her silhouette in the dim light.
The last time he had seen her, she had been getting frustrated at the control panel with Leo. He watched from afar as she threw her hands down and stormed off to her room. Something not going her way, some part of the controls she didn’t understand. Anything like that usually did it.
He knew Annabeth was a more private person. She definitely wouldn’t appreciate him barging into her room, but he couldn’t just leave her like that. They were a team. Whatever was bothering her, he would help her with. He just didn’t quite know how.
He decided to ask the other person who always went to for help. His best friend.
He tossed out his drachma for an iris message and anxiously waited for his favorite satyr to answer back at camp.
“Percy!” Grover popped up in the fizz of mist, greeted excitedly, “What’s up man?”
“I think somethings wrong with Annabeth.”
“What do you mean wrong? Is she sick?”
“I don’t think so. But something’s got her really upset. She hasn’t come out of her room in forever, she’s just… not. Acting like herself.”
He couldn’t help feeling on edge. He was worried about her. And Annabeth wasn’t usually a very open or expressive type of person. She could be painfully stubborn. Getting her to admit something was wrong when she didn’t want to? Impossible.
If something was bothering her and she wouldn’t tell him, things could only get worse. He anxiously bounced his leg. He just couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“Hm,” Grover racked his brain for a second before something came to him, “Oh! I think I might know what it is. Was she acting more like… childish, by chance?”
Percy thought to himself. Her sitting on the floor. Her teddy bear, which she very seldom dug out of her storage trunk. Her seemingly short temper at the control panel, unable to regulate her frustration.
“I guess so.” Percy said, noting her unusually short temper and inability to handle the controls, “But what can I actually do?”
“Don’t worry dude, it should be easy! I just figured you’d probably know this by now.” Grover said, scratching at the scruff on his chin, “ A lot of demigods age regress, basically her brain thinks she’s a lot younger than she actually is. With Annabeth, well, you know she never really got the chance to just be a kid when she was growing up. So when she gets really stressed, she kind of bounces back to feeling like one. And acting like one..”
“Which isn’t exactly convenient for her.” Percy added, trying to make sense of everything. He couldn’t imagine feeling like a kid again would always be a very good feeling. It seemed like something that would get in the way of things, but in a way he felt like he understood. He knew what it felt like to be that small and scared as a kid. Lost, helpless, and unprotected.
“Right. And she can’t really control when it happens.” Grover explained. “She should be back to normal soon, right now you’ve just gotta make sure she’s as comfortable as possible until then.”
“Like babysitting...” Percy nodded.
“Exactly! You treat her just like she’s seven years old. And try to make sure she gets a nap in. if it’s not too difficult-”
“It’s no problem Grover, I’ll have it under control. Thanks man.”
Percy wasn’t entirely sure if it would work, but he trusted Grover. He never considered himself that mature, but he figured babysitting couldn’t be more difficult than anything else he had done. Play games, make snacks, provide general support, sleep? Should be easy.
“You’ll keep me updated? Let me know how she’s doing? I worry about you guys, you know.”
His eyes looked full of uncertain worry, as if he had more to say, but didn’t know what. It was odd not having Grover on this quest. Grover was always there with him. Grover was their protector, not just as his official position, but as their friend. He had already done so much for them, Percy hated seeing him worry.
“Of course.” Percy said sincerely. “Bye Grover, we’ll be back before you know it!”
“Bye Percy! Tell Annabeth I said hi!”
As if right on queue, as soon as he hung up, Annabeth popped out from behind the door frame. Had she been eavesdropping?
“Grover?” She said curiously, her old teddy bear notably nestled under her arms.
“No- I mean, yeah, he was. Just an iris message though.”
“Oh.” She mumbled, freezing in place like a deer in headlights.
She took anxious half steps backwards, looking like she was ready to bolt towards the nearest exit. She shuffled the toy in her arms.
He wasn’t upset that Annabeth had never told him. It seemed like something personal to her, which he knew he shouldn’t try to butt into. She had known Grover a lot longer than him after all. He was her protector long before she knew him.
He tried not to beat himself up over it. There was always going to be stuff she didn’t tell him, but he wanted her to be able to trust him with that kind of stuff. Was there a reason she never told him?
“Actually Annabeth-“ He stopped her, “Before you go, could I talk to you for a sec? You're not in trouble or anything.”
She fought her hand inching closer to her lips in a loose fist. She looked like she wanted to shrink down to the floor and turned invisible. If her hat still worked, of course.
“Grover just said.. you have something you might want to tell me?”
Her shoulders tensed. She had the look she always did in conversation; carefully calculating. Only this time it looked like thinking was giving her a headache.
“I’m a big girl.” She said shakily. The first thing he had heard from her all day, and she sure didn’t sound very big.
“It’s okay if you’re not, Annabeth,” He assured her, “You can just be a kid for a while when you need to, okay?”
She glared at him, the kind of ‘lost in thought’ look she gave him when she didn’t quite know what to say for herself. When she couldn’t swallow her pride.
He understood why she was being so defensive. She was always the tough one, and she didn’t like it when people saw otherwise, even Percy. Especially Percy it seemed. He just had to show her that she didn’t always have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.
“Does my big girl want a snack?” He suggested, breaking her staring contest.
It felt a little awkward talking to her like she was a child. If he ever talked to her like that in any other context, she probably would have kicked his ass. Thankfully, Grover was always right when it came to anything having to do with emotions. She was just a little kid.
Instead of throwing him over her shoulder, she mumbled a quiet noise that Percy could only assume meant, “yes.”
She clung to his side all throughout the kitchen while he flew through the cabinets of mismatched dishware. He didn’t mind her following him around. It just meant she trusted him.
He settled on a small blue plastic plate with unicorns and pegasi etched around the edge. Something he probably would have picked for himself- if he were in the first grade.
“let’s see…” He tutted, opening and closing the cupboards, “Apples… aaand peanut butter!”
His mom had made him after school snacks plenty of times. He always watched her work with such grace and ease. He was still a little clumsy cutting up the apple against his finger. He dropped a spoonful of peanut butter next to the apple slices- not touching- and laid out the apples next to it.
“Aaaand here we go!” He showed her the plate and led her back to her bedroom, grabbing a puzzle book off of her shelf. Perfect.
She was still quieter than usual. He paid extra close attention to how she moved, her feet slightly off balanced. Her hands were uncoordinated and clumsy when she plucked an apple slice off of the plate.
“Should we do a puzzle?” He sat himself down on the floor with her snack, “Let’s see, there’s a word search, crossword… some numbers?”
She cautiously followed suit, a curious look in her eye. He was worried he was overdoing it at first, but she seemed to have lost a little bit of the nervous edge she had weighing on her when he first tried to talk to her. She wasn’t crying anymore at least.
The puzzles weren’t anything too complicated, it did say “for kids” on the cover after all. She could probably solve something more difficult in her sleep. But she did them anyway.
She dazily filled out the numbers with laser focus, a small smile creeping on her face. She dipped her apple slices in the peanut butter and ate without ever taking her eye off the paper. Percy was never very big on brain teasers as a kid. He couldn’t imagine anybody but Annabeth finding them very fun, but he couldn’t help but watch in awe. He could never do numbers in his head that fast.
Needless to say, he was genuinely impressed.
“I think that deserves a sticker,” Percy pressed a sticker to the top of her paper, “It means you did a good job.”
With that she admired the little sticker with a prideful smile.
“An’ another one?” She insisted, pointing at the sheet.
“And another one,” He repeated, giving her another sticker on her shirt below her collarbone.
She giggled, moving onto the next page, full of crossword puzzles. She erased and redid a few letters as she went along, looking up with every one she finished. She pleaded with piercing gray eyes she knew he couldn’t say no to.
Of course he caved. She would have cleared the entire sheet if he let her.
“Clever girl.” He mumbled, peeling off yet another sticker.
He didn’t know what Grover was worried about, this had been easy. Just babysitting, except the baby in question was his badass girlfriend. Between bites of her snack and the crayon on her paper Annabeth finally seemed to relax for once, which she rarely did.
When she finally abandoned the puzzle book, she took to a bin of miscellaneous building blocks and toy figures hidden under her bed. Although a bit simple compared to her usual works, she still made impressive structures with arches and pillars. It looked like she was making her own little city.
She gave Percy a little horse toy, which he assumed meant that she wanted him to play with her. He hobbled it along one of her roads until she decided that he was apparently playing it all wrong.
“No, no, no, you're stuck here.” Annabeth took the toy from his hand and stuck it at the top of her block tower, “And I hafta save you.”
“Whatever you say, wise girl.”
She acted out fighting off all the monsters, while Percy played along, occasionally crying out “oh no!” in a high pitched voice. Considering she had fought actual monsters, it seemed like an odd game to play. Then it dawned on him that it was just that.
A game.
Not practice, or training for some big battle she would have to fight. She was just playing. The thought of that made Percy smile. She really was acting like a kid. She was finally just having fun, despite everything that awaited them.
When she was finished with rescuing every toy she had given Percy, she lazily rested her head against his shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut constantly.
As much as he liked to feel her next to him, she needed to sleep even more. He knew she was definitely tired- the way she monotonously rubbed her eyes and fought back a yawn. She did a good job of hiding it, he’d admit that. He was surprised she wasn’t passed out already.
He reached across the floor for her empty plate and set it down on her bedside table. He would take it to the kitchen later. Right now, he was focused on Annabeth.
“Cmon big girl,” He said lightheartedly, patting her on the back gently, “I think somebody is overdue for a nap.”
He sat up from the floor and tried to pull back the covers of her bed, much to Annabeth's resistance. She shot up to her feet defensively, and her mood quickly shifted. That comment sure woke her back up.
“No!” She stomped her foot and threw the blanket back down in a fit, “M’ not tired!”
She was obviously bluffing. She could hardly keep her eyes open. She glared at him, clearly upset, but she didn’t say anything. She just pouted. And knowing Annabeth, she wouldn’t budge.
if it’s not too difficult, Percy repeated Grover’s warning in his head. Difficult? No. Just one very uncooperative little girl. An uncooperative and stubborn girl who happened to be very handy with a dagger. Thankfully he felt like he didn’t have to worry about the latter issue.
He sat back down on her bed. He knew she needed a break, not just mentally. Her body needed to rest too, just like Grover had said. He looked up at her with a genuine concern in his eyes. He crossed her arms tighter.
“You hardly slept at all last night,” He spoke patiently.
His voice was confident, yet comforting. He didn’t want to force her to do anything she didn’t want to do. That would never work with Annabeth. He had to remind her why she should.
“No!”
“Getting some sleep might make you feel a little better.”
“No- no!” She drew out, breaking into a full on temper tantrum, throwing down her fist.
Her teary eyes were just as scared as they were angry. He hated seeing her so upset.
He wouldn’t give up on her that easily. He never gave up on the people he cared about, even if they put up a fight. He just hoped nobody else was hearing all the fuss she was making. Annabeth probably didn’t want the whole crew to know, but she wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping her own secret.
“Why don’t you want to go to bed?” He tried gently.
She didn’t answer. She trembled like she was just waiting for her body to start short circuiting again. He waited for her patiently. After a few heavy breaths she rubbed the tiny pricks of frustration tears from her eyes.
One word.
“Spiders.” She mumbled with a high pitched whine. Her lip quivered and she sat back on the bed, turning away to the side, hiding her face in her hands.
There weren’t actually any spiders in her room, that he knew of at least. He did know that just the idea of any crawling across her skin was enough to send Annabeth into a blind panic. And that was when she was feeling her age. He could imagine that usual fear was only heightened, being so small and feeling so vulnerable.
She didn’t say anything, but the look on her face- her short shaky breaths and wild eyes- made the message clear.
Just hold me for a while.
So he did.
“It’s okay tough girl, I won’t let any of em’ get to you,” He ruffled her long sleeves, keeping a gentle hold over her bicep as she pulled away, “You can sleep in my room if you want, okay? Would that be better?”
He didn’t exactly know why sleep and spiders went hand in hand, but all that mattered was that it was upsetting her.
“Go to your room.” She slurred under her breath, nearly incoherent. He wouldn’t have been able to understand her at all if she weren’t nodding in agreement.
When he stood up from her bed, she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. She didn’t seem to know her own strength. He gently pried her loose, and picked her up from under her knees. He balanced her body weight against his chest, cradling her in his arms with relative ease, despite her size. Maybe weight training at camp wasn’t so useless after all.
She pressed her face to his shoulder, flooding his view with her hair. Luckily he knew the ship's layout by heart, especially the way from Annabeth's room to his own.
He made sure to grab her teddy bear on his way out. Just to be safe.
His room was much more abundantly decorated than hers, it felt like he planned on living there. His desk lamp lit up the navy blue walls with rippling waves of warm light. Her head on his shoulder, It almost reminded him of how his mom would carry him off to his room when he fell asleep in the car. He gently swayed her back and forth, when she was too tired to pay much mind to anything else.
He set her down on the unmade bed, gently guiding her shoulders flush against the mattress. She collapsed into it as if under deep sea pressure, fighting to keep her eyelids open.
He pulled the comforter up to drape over her shoulders, tucking her in tight. The sheets still lingered warmth from when he had slept in in the morning. She huffed out a heavy sigh, and Percy rubbed the blanket over her shoulder.
There, he thought to himself. Finally.
He slipped her teddy bear under her arm, which she instinctively clung to. She cuddled it close to her chest, letting her eyes drift shut. Whatever she was scared of, she wouldn’t have to worry about it as long as she was safely nestled under the covers.
“I won’t go anywhere, alright?” He sat down next to her, watching her pull her knees up to her chin defensively, “You can go to sleep now. I’ve got your back.”
He laid back lazily against the headboard and shut his eyes, resting his hand on her shoulder protectively. By the time he was sure she was asleep, he was ready for a nap himself. It hadn’t exactly been easy, but it was worth it to see the peaceful look on her face, as her eyes finally shut and the worry melted away.