Chapter Text
Piper McLean was still shaking.
Not from the storm spirits — though, yeah, those were nightmare fuel — but from the fact that she had apparently just survived her first monster attack
Jason and Leo stood beside her, looking equally confused, except Jason had the added bonus of no memories. Which, honestly, Piper was starting to envy.
Then the chariot landed.
A literal fucking flying chariot.
Pulled by pegasi.
Piper blinked. “Okay,” she muttered. “Sure. Why not.”
A guy with rainbow-colored hair jumped out first, Butch, he said, and then a blonde girl followed, stormy-eyed and furious.
She marched straight up to Jason.
“You’re the guy with one shoe,” she said, voice sharp enough to cut steel.
Jason blinked. “Um… yes?”
Piper glanced down. He had, in fact, lost a shoe. She hadn’t even noticed.
The blonde girl, Annabeth, Butch had called her, looked Jason up and down like she was trying to solve a murder mystery using only vibes.
Her jaw clenched. “You’re not him.”
Piper felt Jason tense beside her. “I’m… sorry?”
Annabeth turned away, pacing, muttering to herself. “This doesn’t make sense. He should’ve been here. He should’ve—”
Butch stepped in gently. “Annabeth, breathe.”
She glared at him. “Don’t tell me to breathe. Percy is missing.”
Piper tilted her head. The way she said his name…
Piper didn’t know who Percy was, but she knew one thing:
This Annabeth person was deeply in love with him.
Deeply. Painfully. The kind of love that made your voice crack and your hands shake.
Butch turned to Jason, Piper, and Leo, lowering his voice. “Percy’s her best friend.”
Piper raised an eyebrow. Leo snorted openly.
Best friend.
Sure.
Annabeth spun back toward them. “Tell me everything. What happened? Did you see him? Did he say anything? Did he leave anything behind?”
Leo held up his hands. “I don’t know who Percy is, scary lady.”
Annabeth’s face fell in a way that made Piper’s chest ache.
“Oh,” Annabeth whispered. “Right. Of course. He never was here. This was just supposed to be an extraction.”
Piper watched her — the way she swallowed hard, the way her fingers trembled around the hilt of her dagger, the way she kept glancing at the horizon like she was waiting for a miracle.
Yeah. Piper knew that look.
She’d seen it in movies. In books. In her own reflection when she thought about her dad.
Annabeth wasn’t just worried.
She was terrified of losing someone she loved.
Piper leaned closer to Jason and whispered, “We are absolutely helping her find this Percy guy.”
Jason nodded, still confused but trusting her. “Yeah. Definitely.”
Annabeth didn’t hear them — she was already climbing back into the chariot, barking orders at Butch, her voice cracking just slightly on Percy’s name.
Butch looked at the three of them with a sigh. “What happened to your protector? Gleeson Hedge?”
And Piper was swept away by the wonders of the world of the gods, and the strange feeling of finding out a teacher’s first name.
Jason had been through a lot today.
Waking up on a bus with no memories?
Bad.
Getting attacked by storm spirits?
Worse.
Coach Hedge — despite barely knowing who the guy was — getting kidnapped?
Also bad.
But none of that compared to the emotional hurricane currently sitting across from him in a flying chariot.
Annabeth Chase.
She was muttering to herself and occasionally glaring at Jason like he’d personally offended her by existing. Piper sat beside him, wide‑eyed, taking everything in. Leo was studying the chariot with the same gleam in his eyes as when he made that helicopter. Meanwhile, Jason wished he had popcorn. Or a manual to understand women, or people in general, because this was confusing him.
Annabeth finally stopped muttering and turned to Piper. “So. You’re Piper.”
Piper straightened. “Uh… yeah.”
Annabeth’s eyes softened for half a second — then sharpened again. “And you’re sure you’ve never seen Percy?”
Piper shook her head. “I don’t even know who Percy is.”
Annabeth inhaled sharply, like she’d been punched. “Right. Of course. You wouldn’t.”
Jason felt a pang of sympathy. Whoever Percy was, Annabeth cared about him. A lot.
Annabeth rubbed her temples. “He was supposed to be here. Hera said—” She cut herself off, jaw tightening. “Never mind.”
Piper leaned forward, voice gentle. “He’s important to you.”
Annabeth froze.
Jason watched her shoulders tense, watched her eyes flick away, watched her swallow hard.
“He’s my best friend,” she said.
Jason didn’t know much about reading people, but even he could tell that was only half the truth.
Piper, apparently, could read people like they were subtitles. Her eyes lit up.
Oh no, Jason thought. I don’t even know her, and I know something bad is going to happen.
Annabeth continued, unaware she was being analyzed. “He’s been missing for 3 days, 6 hours, and approximately 15 minutes. I just—” Her voice cracked. “I need to find him.”
Piper’s expression softened into something warm and devastatingly knowing.
Jason braced himself.
“So,” Piper said casually, “how long have you been in love with him?”
Annabeth choked on air.
Jason choked on nothing.
Butch, holding the reins, choked on absolutely everything.
“I—what—no—PERCY?!” Annabeth sputtered, turning red in a way that did not support her argument.
Piper nodded. “Got it.”
Jason stared at her. “Piper—”
“No, it’s fine,” Piper said, waving him off before turning back to Annabeth. “I get it. You don’t have to explain.”
Annabeth looked like she wanted to jump off the chariot.
“I am NOT—this is NOT—he’s just—” She threw her hands up. “He’s my best friend!”
Piper smiled sweetly. “Sure.”
Jason had known Piper for maybe three hours, and he was already terrified of her.
Annabeth groaned and turned away, muttering something about “idiots” and “newbies” and “why is this my life.”
Piper watched her go, eyes sparkling with excitement. Jason leaned closer. “Piper,” he whispered, “you don’t even know these people.”
“I know enough,” she whispered back.
Jason blinked. “Enough for what?”
Piper grinned. “To root for them.”
Jason stared at her.
Piper stared at Annabeth.
Annabeth stared at the horizon like she could will Percy into existence.
Leo kept staring at the chariot.
Jason sighed.
He had a feeling this was only the beginning of a very, very long ride.
Jason pushed open the door to Cabin One, half-expecting lightning to strike him for trespassing.
It didn’t.
Which was good, because he was already having a rough day.
The cabin was huge, echoing, and empty in a way that made his chest feel hollow. He wandered a bit, trying to get a sense of who he was supposed to be. Maybe something here would jog a memory.
That’s when he saw the bunk. It was in the back, the only bunk out of sight of the massive Jupiter Zeus statue that sat in the center. There were pictures all over it, and Jason bent down and picked one up that had fallen onto the floor.
It was a framed photo of three kids, maybe thirteen or fourteen. A dark-haired boy with sea-green eyes grinning, a blonde girl — Annabeth —with stormy gray eyes laughing beside him, and a punk-looking girl with spiky black hair smirking.
Jason didn’t know them.
But he knew happiness when he saw it.
Annabeth looked… radiant. Alive. Like someone who had the world figured out.
She didn’t look like the girl he’d met today — the one who’d been pacing, panicking, and trying not to fall apart.
“”Percy.” he said, studying the boy with sea-green eyes. It had to be, with how close he and Annabeth were.
The door creaked behind him.
Jason turned.
Annabeth stood in the doorway, eyes tired, shoulders tense. “I figured I’d find you here.”
Jason held up the photo. “Is this Percy?”
Annabeth let out a breath that was half a laugh, half a sigh. “Yeah. That’s Percy and Thalia. And me. From a long time ago.”
Jason nodded, setting the frame down gently. “You look happy.”
Annabeth froze.
Jason immediately regretted saying it.
“I mean—” he backpedaled, “you still look—uh—happy. Just… different. Today’s been rough. Obviously.”
Annabeth walked over, staring at the picture like she was afraid it might disappear. “We were a family,” she said softly. “The three of us, and some others. For a while.”
Jason watched her fingers brush the edge of the frame. They trembled.
“He means a lot to you,” Jason said carefully.
Annabeth’s jaw tightened. “He’s my best friend.”
Jason almost snorted. Piper had said the same thing earlier, with the exact same tone Annabeth was using now — the tone that meant this is technically true but also a lie and I will die before admitting it.
Jason tried to be gentle. “Piper thinks you’re in love with him.”
Annabeth went very still.
Jason winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—she just—she notices things.”
Annabeth’s eyes shimmered. “I’m not—” Her voice cracked. “I don’t know what we are. I just know he’s gone.”
Jason’s stomach dropped.
Annabeth blinked rapidly, trying to force the tears back. “I can’t lose him. Not after everything. Not after—” She cut herself off, shaking her head. “I should’ve told him. I should’ve—”
Her voice broke completely.
Jason panicked.
He had fought monsters today. He had survived a lightning blast. He had fallen off a school bus.
None of that prepared him for a crying Annabeth Chase.
“Hey—hey, it’s okay,” he said, stepping closer. “We’re going to find him. I promise.”
Annabeth pressed her palms to her eyes. “You don’t even know him.”
“No,” Jason said softly. “But I know what it looks like when someone matters.”
Annabeth let out a shaky breath.
Jason hesitated, then gently put a hand on her shoulder.
She didn’t pull away.
For a moment, they just stood there — two strangers, both lost in different ways, both trying to hold themselves together.
Annabeth finally whispered, “He’s out there somewhere. I can feel it.”
Jason nodded. “Then we’ll bring him home.”
Annabeth looked up at him, eyes red but determined. “Thank you.”
Jason offered a small smile. “And… for what it’s worth? Piper’s definitely right.”
Annabeth groaned into her hands. “Please don’t start.”
Jason laughed. “Too late. I’m invested now.”
Annabeth shoved him lightly, but she was smiling — just a little.
And Jason realized something:
He didn’t know who he was.
But he knew who Annabeth was.
And he knew who Percy was to her.
And he knew he’d do whatever it took to help them find each other again.
“Anyways,” Jason said. “Who’s Thalia? She looks… almost familiar.”
Leo Valdez had many questions. After his first-ever quest answered his pressing ones about demigod issues, his questions had changed to how to keep the Argo II, or the beginnings of it, from exploding.
But today? Today he had a different priority.
He marched across the training field toward Will Solace, who was trying to teach a group of younger campers how not to stab themselves.
“Solace!” Leo called. “I got a question.”
Will didn’t even look up. “If this is about medical supplies, we’re out of ambrosia because you keep blowing things up.”
Leo gasped. “That was ONE time.”
“It was four times.”
“Same thing.”
Will sighed and dismissed the kids. “What do you want, Valdez?”
Leo glanced around, then leaned in conspiratorially. “Tell me everything you know about Percy and Annabeth.”
Will blinked. “Oh gods. You’re one of those now.”
Leo frowned. “One of what?”
“People who care about their relationship status.”
Leo threw his hands up. “Dude, I’m living with Annabeth Chase while building a giant flying warship. I need to know if she’s gonna murder me or cry on me.”
Will snorted. “Both are possible.”
Jason and Piper wandered over, curious.
Jason crossed his arms. “What’s going on?”
“Leo wants gossip,” Will said.
Piper perked up. “About who?”
“Percy and Annabeth.”
Piper lit up. Jason groaned. “Oh no.”
Will leaned against the fence, arms crossed. “Alright. What do you want to know?”
Leo rubbed his hands together. “Everything. Start from the beginning.”
Will took a deep breath. “Okay. So. Percy and Annabeth.”
He paused dramatically.
“Everyone at camp has been waiting for them to get together since they were twelve.”
Jason blinked. “Twelve?”
Will nodded. “Yep. The tension was already there. You could practically taste it.”
Leo made a face. “Ew.”
Piper elbowed him. “Let him talk.”
Will continued, warming up. “They’d fight monsters together, argue nonstop, save each other’s lives, stare at each other like they were the only two people in the world… and then say they were ‘just friends.’”
Piper sighed dreamily. Jason frowned. “That sounds… stressful.”
“Oh, it was,” Will said. “For all of us. Do you know how many bets the Ares cabin made? How many times the Aphrodite cabin tried to ‘accidentally’ lock them in a room together? How many times the Stoll brothers tried to orchestrate a romantic moment?”
Leo’s eyes widened. “This camp is unhinged.”
Will nodded solemnly. “We were desperate.”
Piper laughed. “So what finally happened?”
Will shrugged. “Nothing. They danced around each other for years. Then the Titan War ended, and we all thought, ‘Finally! They’ll confess!’”
Jason raised an eyebrow. “And?”
Will pointed toward the Athena cabin, where Annabeth was currently yelling at a group of Hephaestus kids about bolt alignment in the flying mechanic. “And now she’s like that.”
Leo winced.
Will lowered his voice. “She’s been a wreck since Percy disappeared, obviously. She pretends she’s fine, but she’s not. And the worst part? She still won’t admit she likes him.”
Piper nodded sagely. “She’s in denial.”
Jason muttered, “She cried in the Zeus cabin.”
Will blinked. “She WHAT?”
Jason immediately regretted speaking. “Uh—nothing.”
Will stared at him. “You made Annabeth Chase cry?”
Jason panicked. “No! I mean—yes—but not on purpose! And it was before our quest!”
Will shook his head. “Anyway. The point is: everyone knows Percy and Annabeth are in love except Percy and Annabeth.”
Leo grinned. “Perfect. That means I can tease her about it.”
Will grabbed his arm. “No. Leo. Listen to me. Do NOT—”
Too late.
Leo was already jogging toward Annabeth, yelling, “HEY ANNABETH! QUICK QUESTION ABOUT YOUR BOYFRIEND—”
Will facepalmed.
Piper cackled.
Jason whispered a prayer for Leo’s soul.
And Annabeth turned slowly, eyes narrowing, expression murderous.
Leo realized, too late, that he had made a terrible mistake.
Annabeth stood very, very slowly. “Leo Valdez,” she said, voice calm in the way that meant danger. “What did you just say?”
Leo grinned. “Your boyfriend. Percy. The guy you’re totally in lo—”
Annabeth grabbed the nearest object.
A hammer.
A very large hammer.
Leo blinked. “Uh oh.”
Annabeth took one step toward him.
Leo took ten steps back.
“RUN,” Jason hissed.
Leo ran.
Annabeth sprinted after him, swinging the hammer wildly.
“ANNABETH, WAIT!” Leo yelled, dodging a swing that would’ve turned him into Valdez purée. “I WAS JUST ASKING A QUESTION!”
“You were being ANNOYING!” Annabeth shouted.
“That’s my whole personality!”
“THEN CHANGE IT!”
They tore across camp — past the strawberry fields, past the canoe lake, past a group of confused satyrs who scattered like pigeons.
Piper was doubled over laughing. “This is the best day of my life.”
Will nodded. “Honestly? He deserves this.”
Jason sighed. “Should we… help him?”
Piper and Will answered in unison. “No.”
Meanwhile, Leo vaulted over a picnic table. Annabeth vaulted over it better.
“YOU WILL NEVER CATCH ME!” he yelled.
“YOU’RE LIKE FIVE FEET TALL!” Annabeth shouted back, and swung the hammer so close it whooshed past his ear.
Leo screamed.
Campers stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle.
“Is that Annabeth chasing Leo with a hammer?” a Hermes kid asked.
“Yeah,” said a Demeter girl. “What’d he do?”
“Probably something stupid.”
“Ah.”
Finally, Leo tripped over a tree root and face‑planted.
Annabeth loomed over him, hammer raised.
Leo threw his hands up. “WAIT! WAIT! I’M TOO YOUNG AND TOO HANDSOME TO DIE!”
Annabeth froze.
Then she lowered the hammer… and poked him in the forehead with it.
“Next time,” she said, voice low and terrifying, “keep Percy’s name out of your mouth unless you want to lose teeth.”
Leo nodded rapidly. “Yep. Got it. Totally fair. Very reasonable.”
Annabeth turned and walked back to the flying mechanic, muttering under her breath.
Leo lay on the ground for a moment, staring at the sky.
Jason walked over. “You alive?”
“Barely,” Leo croaked.
Piper grinned. “Worth it?”
Leo thought about it.
Then he grinned back.
“Oh yeah.”
Jason Grace’s memories were slowly returning, and he’d been at Camp Half-Blood for only a few weeks, but he was only sure of one thing:
Leo Valdez should not be allowed near emotions.
Especially Annabeth’s emotions.
The Hephaestus cabin was buzzing with activity as they worked on the Argo II. Sparks flew, hammers clanged, and Leo was running around like a hyperactive squirrel, if a squirrel could create fire out of its paws.
Annabeth was overseeing blueprints on a drafting table, hair tied back, pencil behind her ear.
Piper nudged Jason. “She’s stressed.”
Jason nodded. “She’s always stressed.”
“No,” Piper whispered. “This is Percy‑related stress.”
Jason sighed. “Please don’t start.”
Piper grinned. “I’m not starting. Leo is.”
Jason followed her gaze.
Leo was creeping toward Annabeth with the exact expression of someone who had never once considered consequences, despite nearly getting hit by a hammer a couple days ago.
“Hey, Annabeth!” Leo called.
Annabeth didn’t look up. “If this is about the stabilizer brackets, they go on the bottom, Leo.”
“Nope,” Leo said cheerfully. “This is about your love life.”
Annabeth froze.
Jason froze.
Piper lit up like Christmas.
Leo leaned on the table, smirking. “Sooooo… when Percy gets back, are you gonna kiss him or punch him first?”
Annabeth’s pencil snapped in half.
Jason took a step back for safety. Really? It’s only been three days!
“Leo,” Annabeth said slowly, “I am going to give you five seconds to run.”
Leo gasped dramatically. “Run? From the truth?”
Jason grimaced. Jason had PTSD from the ‘Hammer Incident’ three days ago, and Leo was still starting shit?!
Next to him, Piper was wheezing. Jason looked at her incredulously.
Annabeth stood up, eyes blazing. “I am NOT—this is NOT—PERCY AND I ARE—”
“Best friends,” Leo finished, nodding sagely. “Yeah, yeah. Heard that one before. From Piper. And Jason. And literally everyone.”
Annabeth’s eye twitched.
Leo grinned wider. “You know, if you ever need help confessing, I can build you a machine that—”
There was a loud BOOM.
Jason flinched. Smoke billowed from behind Leo.
Leo turned around, blinking. “Huh. That wasn’t supposed to explode.”
Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose. “What did you do?”
Leo shrugged. “I may have rigged a tiny little prank device to go off when you said Percy’s name.”
Jason stared. “Why would you do that?”
Leo looked offended. “For science!”
Piper was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
Annabeth was not laughing.
“Leo,” she said, voice dangerously calm, “you nearly blew up the Argo II.”
Leo waved a hand. “Nah, it’s fine. Just a small combustion. A baby explosion. A sparkly boom. Nothing serious.”
A second explosion went off behind him.
Leo jumped. “Okay, that one wasn’t me.”
Jason groaned. “Leo—”
Leo held up his hands. “I swear! That one was the auto‑ignition valve. Probably. Maybe. Possibly.”
Annabeth marched toward him. “You are banned. Banned from touching anything until further notice.”
Leo gasped. “You can’t ban me! I’m the head engineer!”
“You’re a hazard,” Annabeth snapped.
Leo pointed at Jason. “Tell her I’m not a hazard.”
Jason opened his mouth.
Piper elbowed him. Hard.
Jason closed his mouth.
Leo looked betrayed. “Aw, fuck you Superman.”
Annabeth jabbed a finger at him. “Go. Sit. Somewhere far away. Preferably near nothing flammable.”
“Nobody appreciates genius anymore,” Leo muttered, trudging off.
Piper wiped her eyes. “That was beautiful.”
Jason shook his head. “He’s going to get himself killed.”
Annabeth sighed, rubbing her temples. “If he doesn’t blow us all up first.”
She turned back to her blueprints, but Jason caught the tiny smile tugging at her lips.
Even she couldn’t stay mad at Leo for long.
Piper leaned in. “So… you are going to kiss Percy first.”
Annabeth groaned. “I hate all of you.”
Jason smiled.
This — the chaos, the teasing, the warmth — this felt like a family.
A very dysfunctional, explosive, Percy‑obsessed family.