Title: "Caught"

Rating: T

Pairing: Annabeth Chase x Percy Jackson

Word Count: 1,985

Beta: N/A

Summary: In a small town in Tornado Alley resides Annabeth Chase, who's currently at school with a tornado heading their way. She took a restroom break to stretch her legs, despite her teacher's forewarning. On her way back, she freezes on hearing the dreaded siren. Annabeth, however, doesn't get caught, and when she's swept away by a person to save her, how far will Annabeth go to not get caught – by the tornado, by the APs, and most of all, by this mysterious person?

Caught

Annabeth slammed her head against the desk just as hard as the rain poured outside. Sighing, she slowly lifted her head up, rubbing her bleary eyes so she could see clearly.

The teacher was so scared that it had gotten to a point where everyone had dropped what they were doing and were watching the news in class.

"Science these days, huh?" the teacher joked, a scared whimper escaping her lips.

Annabeth rolled her gray eyes. She couldn't believe how scared her teacher was. Sighing, she turned her head and looked out the window, before raising her hand and asking to go to the restroom.

The teacher shook her head fervently, holding up a shaky finger to the screen. "Not now, dear…"

Sighing audibly and letting her shoulders hang, she stared dumbly at the screen, before she decided to ask again. She just couldn't stand sitting in that uncomfortable plastic chair any longer. The teacher sighed heavily and sternly pointed a finger at her. "Hurry back."

Annabeth smiled contently, finally stretching her legs. Taking the hall pass that was leaning up against the board, she casually opened the door and walked out, taking her sweet time. She took a few minutes getting to the bathroom, and spent some good time in there, just to waste time away.

As she was fixing her hair after she had washed her hands, she heard the siren.

Her eyes widened worriedly as she ran outside the bathroom, gripping the hall pass so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

For a moment, she froze, not knowing what to do. She blinked, and looked around, until she heard feet rapidly approaching.

Someone grabbed her elbow and started running, and she yelped.

"What the…hell?" she managed to say to the person who had grabbed her arm.

She couldn't see his face; all she saw was locks of raven hair. Her eyebrows furrowed in question.

The boy didn't respond until a few moments later. "You don't want to get caught standing in the hallway at this time. You don't want to get caught by the APs or fuck that, the tornado itself," he spat as they turned a hallway.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Annabeth asked, outraged. Her face flushed and she was tempted to pull her elbow away from him, but she didn't.

She could see him sighing, even whilst running. "You're Annabeth Chase," he finally said quietly. "You're not supposed to get caught."

"Who are you to say that?"

"Last time I checked, I'm busy saving your life."

Her face burned as her mouth clamped shut. The boy moved his hand down and clasped her sweaty hand in his.

The suspicions built up inside her mind, and she was finally making connections as to who this boy could be. Shaking her head, she let it go momentarily. She needed time to think.

Down to their right, they could see an AP stalking through the hallways. Like this kid had mentioned, Annabeth got worried. She pressed her hand tighter against his, and he could sense her worry.

He opened a door next to them, which happened to be the janitor's closet. He gently pushed her in first, and then squeezed in afterwards.

Before she could say anything, he put his hand over her mouth. "Sh," he whispered. "Don't move, don't make a single noise."

His minty breath fanned her face with every word he said, and she tried to wriggle underneath the pressure of his hand on her mouth.

They heard heels clacking outside, and once they passed, the boy let go of her.

"Can we get out now?" she croaked quietly.

He shook his head, and slowly traveling his hand around, he found a lamp. Grinning, he switched it on.

The light fully illuminated his face for her, and she gasped, finding herself looking into the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.

"Hey Annabeth Chase," he murmured quietly, looking down at her.

She thought he was going to kiss her right then, but she pushed that thought out of her mind, huffing and looking away. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, "So it's you."

"A 'thank you' would have been nice as well," he grimaced, scratching the back of his head.

Annabeth rolled her gray eyes. "I don't like to associate myself with you."

His eyes widened as he gulped, thinking he'd done something wrong, but a moment later, she turned to him and smiled slightly, saying, "Perseus Jackson. I could tell by your voice."

Percy shrugged, looking down and shoving his hands in his pockets. He leaned his back against a metal rack of cleaning supplies, being more careful and cautious than ever.

"Thanks," she said reluctantly, feeling bad.

He nodded silently, before saying, "We won't be able to get out until after the sirens stop."

Annabeth's eyebrow cocked. "Won't our teachers be looking for us?"

He shook his head, but quickly shrugged uncertainly. "Who do you have?"

"Ms. White," Annabeth responded.

Percy let out a laugh and threw his head back. "She's too busy worrying right now."

Annabeth laughed along. "Yeah, she didn't even let me go to the bathroom. I had to annoy her about it."

He looked at her, a smirk playing on his lips. "Annabeth Chase, annoying?" he asked sarcastically. "No, never."

Annabeth slapped his arm, letting a smile creep up on her face. "Whatever," she huffed, rolling her eyes. Silence blanketed them, before Annabeth whispered, "Why were you so worried about me?"

Percy shrugged. "This is a natural disaster that could possibly kill us. Why else?" he muttered bluntly, looking off to the side.

Taken aback by the obvious answer, she cleared her throat and said, "Right, sorry. That was a stupid question."

"For a Wise Girl, you sure are pretty stupid," he joked, to ease the tension.

She pointed a finger at him. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

He looked at her, as if to say, Really? and smirked. "Are we really doing this whole nickname deal?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin up. "You started it."

He laughed lightly, shaking his head disbelievingly. "I guess you're right." When it got quiet again, he slowly scoped out the closet, moving to the back. It had proved to be more difficult in the cramped space as Annabeth's body stuck to his, but he slowly bent down, squatting now. He sighed in relief as he slowly sat down and stretched his legs, and Annabeth copied his movements.

"That feels nice," Annabeth murmured, resting her elbows on her knees and holding her head in her hands.

He nodded, before he said, "Press your ear up against the door and see if you can still hear the siren."

She nodded, shifting slightly and pressing her ear against the wooden door. She heard teachers clamoring and a faint siren going off. She looked at him and nodded, and he sighed heavily. He opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly leaned towards him and covered his mouth with her hand and holding up a finger with her free hand, before pointing to the lamp and motioning for him to turn it off. Getting up gently, he flipped the switch, leaving the two in pitch darkness.

Annabeth held her hand out towards him and he grasped it, slowly letting himself sit back down. She pressed her ear against the door once more, listening closely. Heels clacked and shoes hit the floor rapidly, voices yelled and eyes watered.

"It's going to be a while," Annabeth whispered somberly. "It looks like the tornado is only a few miles away."

Percy stood up abruptly. "What the hell is everyone doing in the hallways then?"

"They're evacuating people from their rooms and putting them in closets and cabinets," she said seriously, and then in a sarcastic tone, finished, "because our normal classrooms aren't exactly the safest."

"No duh," Percy said, sitting back down. "Do they need help?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I think they're fine."

"Let's hope so."

It was an hour later when the siren faded away, and Annabeth was just about ready to pee in her pants; that's how cold it was in that cramped closet.

Her teeth chattered every time she tried to speak, so she stayed quiet for most of the time, hugging her arms.

"Does that mean we can leave?" Percy asked bluntly, when Annabeth had mentioned that the siren stopped.

Annabeth was a little irritated with that question. Did he not like her? Questions started to fire off in her head like a shotgun, but she shook her head, shaking the thoughts away. Simply shrugging, she said, "I have no idea. If you want, you can go check."

"Why don't you check? You're closer."

"You're the one that wants to get out."

"You don't want to get out?"

"What if I don't?"

"What's your problem now?"

Heat rose to Annabeth's cheeks and she hotly said, "I think you're the one with the problem."

"I have lots, could you name the particular one right now?"

She wanted to laugh, but to maintain her resolve, she sucked in her cheeks and didn't say anything.

"That's what I thought," he murmured, looking away.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and looked away; she probably made him so irritated that he didn't want to talk to her anymore. She sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping against the door.

Sucking in a deep breath, Percy said, "Sorry."

Annabeth was taken aback. "For what?"

"If I irritated you," he muttered, raking his fingers through his hair.

Annabeth's face flushed at the misunderstanding. "Ah, no," she said, grinning. "I thought it was the opposite."

"Opposite?" he asked.

Annabeth sighed, laughing. "Opposite, as in, I thought I was annoying you."

"Awkward," he muttered, looking her in the eyes and grinning. "Why would you think that?"

Annabeth stared at him blatantly, as if to ask Really? but said, "Well, you wanted to get out of here pretty quickly."

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked up, and then finally realized that he had been asking to get out. "Oh, that! Aren't you cramped though? That's why I was asking."

Annabeth nodded, her eyebrows raised in a sarcastic manner.

"I like spending time with you," he said softly. "So don't think that."

Before Annabeth got a chance to respond, the door opened, and Annabeth fell back, almost hitting the floor. She caught herself however, and looked up to see the janitor.

"Were you two in here the whole time?"

They nodded silently, their lips sealed tightly.

"Get on out then," the janitor said with a grin. "It's gone."

Percy grinned back as Annabeth struggled to get up. "Thank you," he said politely to the janitor as the two of them saw themselves out of the closet.

Annabeth and Percy stood outside of the closet, facing one another.

She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut, thinking of the right words to say. She sighed heavily, before looking up to him.

"Thanks Percy," she said softly. "You didn't want me to get caught…"

Percy shrugged and smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "No problem."

"…But in the end, I did get caught."

Percy's eyebrows furrowed.

"By you."

Percy scratched the back of his head, nodding understandingly. Leaning in close, he kissed her cheek. "Thanks Annabeth," he whispered in her ear, sending chills down her back. "I had fun."

Annabeth's heart shattered and she didn't understand why. She'd hardly gotten to know him, and was already getting rejected.

Her head hung low, her gray eyes counting the tiles on the floor, and just as she felt him moving away, he said, "Catching you was probably the best thing I ever did."

She looked up, her eyes widening. He smiled down at her, making a move to walk away.

"Getting caught was the best thing, Seaweed Brain."