A Rivalry of Parents (And Their Children)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, all rights go to Rick, etc. Don't sue me.

oooOOOooo

Everyone knows that capture the flag at Camp Half-Blood gets a little heated.

Hey, these guys take their night games seriously. Honestly, one time the Ares cabin had the banner for four weeks straight so the entire camp- and I mean the entire camp- teamed up against the cabin to finally take them down.

It's intense, even without all the demigod stuff. We're talking about 200 hyperactive kids here.

Then through in your weapons, helmets, shields, magical items… you've got yourself a dangerous combination.

But when a certain son of Poseidon and a certain daughter of Athena became leaders of opposing teams…. well, that just makes for a whole new level of craziness. (Especially when said demigods have a running competition on who can overpower who and come out on top that's been going on since they met at age 12.)

They're now 18 years old.

And did I mention they're dating?

Ladies and Gentlemen, sit back and enjoy the read, because this is one 'friendly' competition you do not want to miss.

oooOOOooo

Jason's arm is wrapped around the back of her chair and his fingers are tracing lazy patterns on her shoulder when Chiron walks into the counsellor meeting he's called. Piper watches Travis and Connor hurriedly hide the notebook they're peering at (she makes a mental note to warn her friend later) and Clovis jerks awake at the sound of hooves for maybe two whole seconds before he face slams back into his pillow.

"Campers," he greets, not even bothering to wake Clovis up because it's a losing battle, and giving the Stoll brothers a warning look. "We all know that Percy and Annabeth are leaving to go to Camp Jupiter in the fall for college."

Percy and Annabeth look up from where they were both sitting on a loveseat in the corner of the Rec Room, his arm around her waist, their fingers interlocked.

"And, as a special going away present," Chiron has a smile on his face but it doesn't quite reach his eyes and Piper wonders if he'll ever talk about her and Jason this way when they leave for Camp Jupiter next year. She catches Leo's eye from across the table and he mimes wiping away a tear from his eye. Piper sticks her tongue out at him. "The other campers have requested for the Athena cabin to lead the opposing team in capture the flag- and for Annabeth to be captain of that team- to try to get the banner from Percy's hands."

To say the least, Piper thinks as she watches all of the senior counsellor's jump up in excitement, people are happy about that arrangement.

"Percy's team!" The Stoll brothers call out unanimously as they rise from their chairs. Katie grins widely, Will Solace laughs before whispering something to Nico who only raises an eyebrow, Lou Ellen actually jumps in her chair and… and the most excited one of all is, surprisingly, Clarisse.

"Yes!" Clarisse punches one fist in the air. "Let's get the banner out of the punk's hands once and for all!"

"Thanks, Clarisse, love you too." Percy replies, rolling his eyes before looking at Annabeth. He raises an eyebrow at her. "You up for this?"

Annabeth grins at him. "Bring it on, Seaweed Brain."

Percy shrugs. "I'm just going to point out now that getting your butt kicked won't be the best going away present for you."

It's Annabeth's turn to raise an eyebrow and Piper laughs at her words. "Who says I'm the one getting my butt kicked?"

Percy grins. "Wise Girl, if there's one thing I know by now, it's how to beat you at capture the flag."

Annabeth scoffs. "Maybe I just let you win to get your guard down and now I'm going in for the kill."

Percy frowns, as if seriously contemplating her words before saying warily. "There's no way even you're that sneaky."

Annabeth shrugs and looks away casually. "We'll just have to see now, won't we? I mean you've practically challenged me already."

"Wait, no-"

"So let's see where this goes." Annabeth grins at him. "I'm in, Seaweed Brain."

"I was just saying-"

"Unless you'd like to admit that you're scared I'll beat you and hand over the flag now?"

They have a silent staring contest- that everybody else in the room unashamedly watches- before Percy narrows his eyes. "Never."

"Great!" Annabeth pecks him on the lips quickly before turning to Chiron. "We're in."

He nods back at her and stamps his hoof to quiet the whispers and alliances being made. "Very well," he says. "Go and speak to your cabins and decide whose team you will be on." Chiron turns his eyes to Annabeth and Percy again. "We begin the game at nightfall."

With that he turned and went out the door, leaving everybody else to follow.

oooOOOooo

She walked with Leo back to their cabins, kissing Jason on the cheek before she let go of his hand so he could hang back to talk to Percy.

"So," Leo rubs his hands together in excitement. "Who are you going with?"

"Annabeth, obviously." Piper replies. "We all know she'll win in the end."

Leo raises his eyebrow at her. "Umm… may I remind you that Percy had to beat her two weeks ago to get the flag from the Stolls in the first place?"

"And may I point out to you that the only reason Percy didn't lose it the next week was because she was on his team and was helping him instead of against him?"

Leo snorts. "Yeah, the record game that only lasted five minutes." He shook his head. "That's seriously the last time I go against those two when they're together. My arm still doesn't feel right." He rotates his left shoulder slowly, frowning at it as he does. "Anyway Beauty Queen, I'm just saying, I have a feeling Percy's gonna win this one. I think I'm going with him."

"Leo," Piper stops walking just outside his cabin and he turns to look at her. "Annabeth's the smartest person in this entire place," she says. "And her siblings aren't far behind. Percy may have strength, but even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

"Sometimes," Leo points a finger at her with a mischievous grin on his face. "Not tonight though."

Piper hits his hand out of the way playfully as she starts to walk towards her own cabin. "Sure, Repair Boy. Keeping thinking that until we kick your butts tonight."

"Keep dreaming, Beauty Queen!" He calls from behind her before he goes into his cabin.

She grins. Poor boy doesn't know what he's just signed up for.

oooOOOooo

Friendships might actually be broken because of this, Piper thinks as she sits in the mess hall that night eating her slice of pizza and taking in the surrounding tables.

In the course of the afternoon things had risen to an extreme level. The alliances were shaky, with people switching sides every couple of minutes.

The Aphrodite cabin was the first cabin to sign up with the Athenians, followed quickly by Ares. Neither of them had changed sides, although apparently Clarisse had made Annabeth promise that the Athena cabin would clean bathrooms for the rest of the month if they joined their side.

So far, as much as Piper had gathered from various sources, the teams were like this. Apollo, Hades, Zeus and Hermes had signed up with Percy. Ares, Aphrodite and Hephaestus had agreed to join Athena. Oh, and Demeter, because Katie wanted to be on whatever side Travis was not. Hypnos's cabin were currently negotiating with Percy, Hecate's cabin was being sought after by both sides (hello, they had magic) and Iris, Hemera, Dionysus and the rest were scrambling to choose the winning side.

Thank god there were no Nike kids here, because children of the goddess of victory would have definitely made this a full on battle.

Percy surprised them all by sliding into the empty spot on her left side. Lacey and Michael, her siblings, leaned forward to look at him, as did almost everyone else in the mess hall.

"Listen, I'll make this quick-" He started.

"Don't bother, Perce," Piper smiled at him gently. "We're with Annabeth."

"But if you just-"

"I'm not going to change my mind."

"We could really use you guys-"

"Nope." Piper popped the p and took a big bite of her pizza, smiling at him as she did so. "Sorry."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Whatever she promised you I can do better."

Piper shrugged. "She didn't promise me anything, we joined out of the goodness of our hearts, right guys?" She turned to look at her cabin.

Percy looked out at them all. "You're sure about this?"

Drew spoke up. "Well now that you mention it, it was mostly Piper who-"

"We're sure." Lacey spoke up from beside Piper. "Sorry, Percy."

He smiled and shook his head at her. "That's okay, Lacey." He said, causing the girl to blush a bit. Luckily Percy didn't notice. "Alright, I see how it is." He stood up before Chiron could shoot him once last warning look and looked at Piper again, holding his chest in mock hurt. "I can't pretend you haven't wounded me, Piper, but I'm sure I'll get over it-"

She shoved him playfully. "Get outta here." She said, shooting a wink at Annabeth who had been watching the entire interaction. "Go try and build a team that won't lose."

"We'll win!" Percy called back as he was walking away. "And you'll wish you'd sided with us!" He turned to look at Leo. "You too, Valdez!"

"It's my cabin man, I was so ready to mess stuff up with you!" Leo said. "I had to go with Annabeth or my siblings would have led a mutiny on me!"

Annabeth spoke up. "Well if you'd rather we didn't clean stables for you this week-"

"No, no!" Leo hurriedly interrupted her. "We've made our choice, we'll stick with it."

"Wrong decision man," Percy warned.

"Hey, Percy?" Annabeth called sweetly. "Good luck for tonight, you'll need it."

"What was that, Annabeth?" He called back, cupping one hand around an ear. "I couldn't hear you, I'm too busy imagining the sound of everybody cheering for my team when we win."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "Careful Seaweed Brain, don't say something you'll regret. Remember I'm close friends with your mom."

"And your dad invited me to stay the entire winter break at your house this year," Percy shot back, making everybody glance back and forth between them like a tennis match, "so there. Don't play the parent card, dear, it's beneath you."

"Well, just so you know-"

"Will you two sit down already? Please?" Nico called. "Save it for tonight, will you?"

Percy and Annabeth had somehow ended up chest to chest in the middle of the mess hall, staring each other down, practically nose to nose.

Piper couldn't help but laugh along with everybody else, and she smiled when Percy whispered something in Annabeth's ear, which made her smile and punch him playfully before he kissed her on the cheek and sat down.

Mr. D's sigh broke the silence as it was so loud everybody heard it. "And I thought us gods were bad," He said. "But you brats are like us with no dictator to shut us up."

Thunder rumbled loudly, making Dionysus wince before yelling, "Just kidding father, only a joke!"

Piper turned to Lacey. "Thanks, for what you said."

She shrugged and turned to eat her food, her ears going red a bit. "We made our choice," she said. "We're not going to change our minds. Besides," she glanced up at her. "Silena and Annabeth were really close, just like Beckendorf and Percy. The four of them used to hang out all the time, but I know she'd choose Annabeth's side, for fun." She smiled a small, sad smile, making Piper's gut twist slightly. "Plus we all know Percy would do anything Annabeth asked him to, if it came down to it. He's totally going to lose."

Piper laughed and it lightened the atmosphere that had fallen on them for a moment. "You can say that again." She leaned in to whisper in Lacey's ear. "I think he's forgotten about Drew and I's charmspeak. But you can be assured that Annabeth hasn't."

Lacey giggled, causing Michael to look at them questioningly but she waved him away. "So we're practically guaranteed a win." She said, taking a bite of brisket. "No worries."

"Nope," Piper said, catching Jason's eye and smiling widely at him before having another bite of her pizza. "None at all."

oooOOOooo

It's when Katie's startled yelp sounds from the trees surrounding their post and Percy runs out two seconds later with a wide grin on his face that Annabeth realizes she's been beaten.

She's on top of Zeus's Fist, surveying the scene around her with Piper and Katie as her guards at the rock's base, but at the sight of her boyfriend she jumps down from the top of the rock.

Because she hears the yell of "Travis!" from Katie and knows who Percy's brought with him.

And when Piper yells, "Hey there, Sparky!" before trying to disarm her boyfriend with a laugh, her suspicions are confirmed.

Annabeth switches her sword from her right hand to her left and then back again, meeting Percy's eyes from when she'd landed in a crouch before straightening up with a glint in her eye and a wicked smile.

There's still hope. Annabeth knows that her boyfriend thinks she's a lot smarter than she actually is, so maybe if she acts confident and like she has a plan it will disarm him long enough for Katie or Piper to come to her aid.

Not that she'll necessarily need it.

Before Annabeth can even say anything, Piper speaks loud enough for the three other demigods to hear her- Katie and Travis are probably making out in the bush by now, it never takes those two long to get distracted.

"Boys," Piper's voice is thick and enrapturing and Annabeth's eyes are immediately drawn to her. "Lower your weapons," she says sweetly, "you don't want to fight."

It's so powerful that Annabeth's fingers loosen their grip for a moment on the handle of her sword before she can snap herself out of it. Jason and Percy should have no chance, since they're who her power was directed towards.

Yet for some reason they're completely unaffected and keep advancing.

Percy throws a smirk at Annabeth before she can listen to Jason saying something to Piper. Annabeth's boyfriend taps his ears lightly and his grin widens at Annabeth's look of confusion. Had he gone deaf at some point during the game?

"Earplugs," he explains with a proud smirk. "Sorry, Wise Girl, we can't hear a word either of you say."

Annabeth can't help it- she's surprised.

(There's a reason she's usually the one to make the plans and think out the strategies between the two of them.)

It's good for her, she realizes as she raises her arm to block Percy's strike with Riptide, to be reminded that she underestimates Percy sometimes.

After that she doesn't think much, just tries not to be stabbed by the boy who'd promised her late one night that he'd never hurt her.

But this was capture the flag; he's forgiven.

Usually when she spars with Percy she speaks. It's strange to have nothing but their heavy breathing, the clang of their blades and the sounds of Jason and Piper's fight to break the silence. They would throw taunts back and forth, to try to distract each other and gain the upper hand.

When she meets Percy's eyes for a brief second before slashing at his breast plate, she knows he's thinking along similar lines and can't help but smile because it's so amazing to have somebody she can communicate with even without words.

It's because of a few stupid pebbles that she's defeated.

She's just jumped up on the lowest ring of rock of Zeus's Fist and is balancing precariously and parrying Percy's hits when she steps on a few pebbles and slides forward, losing her balance and almost falling.

For a second her stomach lurches and she's terrified, because any fall scares her after Tartarus, but Percy's arms catch her and his muscles tense as he supports her weight for a couple of seconds before easing her on the ground in the same movement he caught her and standing over her to point Riptide at her throat.

"Dead," he announces, grinning like a madman. She narrows her eyes and he only winks at her- winks!- before turning his head slightly to yell, "Travis!"

Usually that was when Annabeth would have made her move, when he was distracted. But Percy knows her too well and as he looks to the trees around them he pushes the tip of Riptide just a bit closer to her throat in warning and in a few seconds he's looking at her once more like a hawk.

So much for that.

Travis, who apparently forwent the earplugs, appears leading hand in hand a stunned, swollen lipped Katie who looks dazed, her sword hanging at her side.

Percy looks over at Jason, who's laying underneath Piper who is holding her dagger at his throat and rolls his eyes at his cousin but grins at the sight nonetheless.

"Take Annabeth and Katie to the prison," Percy tells Travis. "Piper needs to go and take Jason," he grins up at the flag embellished with a triton in the middle of it that's resting on top of Zeus's Fist. "As for me, I've got a flag to get."

Annabeth glares at Percy as he steps away from her, heading towards the pile of rocks. "Piper!" She yells as Travis helps her up, "Protect the flag! Jason can wait!"

Percy's already leaping up to the top of the rock pile and the last thing Annabeth sees before trees block her view of her friends is Percy holding the flag in one hand and sparring with Piper while trying to get down.

Annabeth turns and follows her friends. "Katie," she hisses, "what were you doing?"

Katie blushes but stares resolutely at Travis's back, who's walking ahead of them. "Annabeth-"

"You don't just start making out with your boyfriend in the middle of the game when you're supposed to be guarding the flag, Kates!"

Katie raises an eyebrow at her as she gives her an unimpressed look. "May I remind you how Percy got the flag in the first place two weeks ago? Who was making out with her boyfriend while supposed to be guarding the flag then, hmm? I'm not the only one who's been disarmed while getting distracted."

Annabeth flushed. "That's different," she mutters. "Ares cabin had the flag and we all needed them to get rid of it."

"Uh huh." Katie's voice is disbelieving. "I'm just saying, I know you set up a lot of great traps tonight, and I know I was part of the final defense, but I'm not the only one who slipped in this game."

Travis looks back at them, waiting for them to fall into step beside him instead of behind. He links hands with Katie and shoots Annabeth a devilish smile, wiggling his eyebrows. "Face it, ladies," he says smugly. "Us boys are just irresistible."

Annabeth and Katie roll their eyes and scoff at the same time, both muttering, "You wish," and "Yeah right."

Travis fakes a look of hurt. "Now Annabeth," he scolds, wagging a finger at her. "You love poor ol' Perce, we know you do. And Katie Kat," he shakes his head. "Just the other day you were telling me-"

"Travis!" Katie claps a hand over his mouthing, shooting daggers at him and a worried glance towards Annabeth. "Shut up."

He laughs and moves his head out from under her hand and the emerge at the campfire clearing where a small group of Annabeth's team sit, looking bored at the ground while Clovis and the other Hypos kids sleep in various positions on the ground, sitting logs and even other people's laps.

Annabeth stops, hands on her hips, and stares at her team.

Leo just looks straight back at her. "Your boyfriend can make hurricanes," he says. "Don't look at us like that."

She throws her hands up in the air and stomps over to sit beside him, taking Clovis' feet and placing them in her lap.

She's willing to bet drachma that the game ends within the next ten minutes with Percy somehow sneaking back over the team border to his side.

She's willing to bet double that nobody from her team is heading their way to try to save them.

When the conch horn blows four minutes later she just rolls her eyes and pushes off the log, heading straight to the showers.

Next time, she promises herself. Next time she'll win.