Alright everyone, I'd like to thank sevvyboy1fangirl for a LOT of very good prompts for me! They were all really good and truthfully I'll probably be using more than just this one in the future to keep the creative juices flowing! Anyone else who would like to put in some input would be pretty damn awesome!

Also doublekitcat and a guest account both put in their input! So lots of thanks to both of them!

ShawnaCrazyGirl I would really like to use that for a chapter in the future! Ill make sure to give you credit when I do! Thanks!

*After the Giant War*

Paul's POV

It had been more than a month sense Percy had returned, there had been more tears shed as he walked in the door then throughout the months he had been gone. He stayed at camp for a while, helping to re-build, not just the building but everyone around him. He'd come home to visit, always with Annabeth close to his side, nearly inseparable.

They didn't go into detail, saving Sally, and myself, from the worst of it. Neither of us were stupid, we knew they were holding back, we could see the fresh scars webbing along their skin, nearly none of it left unmarred and we were not blind to their lingering touches, the way they held each other up, jumped at the slightest of sounds. They thought we didn't notice that Percy's makeshift bed on the floor was cold and unused in the morning and there were two indents in the mattress, side by side. We did notice, Sally never said anything but I knew she was worried.

Tonight was different, Annabeth wasn't here, she had been called to Olympus on emergency business, something about Aphrodite thinking statue looked fat.

Percy had been edgy all night- more so then usual- the smallest of sounds caused him to jump and his smile never quiet reached his eyes, even Sally's blue cookies didn't quite cerate the same reaction as before.

Sally had long sense gone to bed and even I had slipped into bed over thirty minutes ago after watching several hours of TV with Percy. It was odd for him to stay up late, even now he was known for loving his sleep, and yet I could still hear him tinkering around in the kitchen; cupboards closing, the faint lull of the TV, water running in the sink. I glanced at the clock, 1:57 a.m.

With a sigh I rolled over, closing my eyes against the thought of Percy as I'd suggest he get some sleep; the trapped look that had flashed across his face and the fear in his eyes. It was gone quickly but I had seen it, I know I had.

5:69 a.m.

I woke up with a jerk. For a moment I laid there, unsure of what had brought me out of my sleep before a blood chilling scream ripped the air. I jumped from the bed, night clothes still on and rushed to the living room, Sally just steps behind me. In my hand was the baseball bat I kept at the side of our bed, in Sally's was one of the more heavy looking books that towered on her nightstand. We both expected to see Percy locked in a fight with some form of nasty monster but what we saw was much more shaking.

Books were strewn around him, as if he'd drifted off into sleep while in the middle of reading (something that greatly confused him, Percy never read, he wasn't even sure he would if his life depended on it) he was on the floor, writhing against the carpet. His back arched as his mouth opened in a silent scream, the scars on his body standing out in sharp contrast against his flushed skin. He mumbled something I couldn't quite catch, strings of prophecies and names, names I'd never heard before, all mixed in with one, clear phrase: "Don't hurt her, Don't hurt Annabeth. Me instead, me instead…" and he would scream again.

Sally kneeled next to her son as I stood over the both of them, frozen in place, completely at a loss of what to do. "Shh," she whispered "Shhh, it's okay. Annabeth is okay." She continued to whisper soothing things into his ear until his screams became whimpers and his mutterings were only small chokes of 'Annabeth."

I left the room, I may love Sally and I may love Percy but what had just happened was not for me to see. I collapsed onto the bed, the baseball bat forgotten as it rolled across the floor. I massaged my temples, pulling at tufts of my hair. Percy was many things but vulnerable? Never.

In the other room I could hear Percy begin to comfort his mom. I shook my head, admiring his loyalty, his need to put others before himself, even when there was something so obviously wrong. I remained there on the bed until I heard Sally sink into the pillows next to me. She was shaking and all I could do was hold her closer.

"He's going to IM Annabeth, make sure she's okay."

I nodded and waited. It wasn't long before I felt hot tears leaking through my shirt. I didn't comment, only stroked her hair until she fell asleep.

I could hear him in the other room as her breathing became stable and her grip went slack. "I know Wise Girl, I won't leave again."

I couldn't hear her response. "I tried not to sleep, I knew without you here they'd-" he faltered a little "come back." I knew he meant his nightmare, but, come back? As far as I knew he wasn't sleeping any worse than before.

There was a pause "I even tried reading." This time I could hear an exasperated "Seaweed Brain" and both of them laugh, not the fake, half-hearted one that Sally and I had heard all night, but Percy's real laugh, the one that made me smile even from here.

"Of course I'll stay up with you Wise Girl." He sounded tired but convicted none the less, though I doubted Percy would have gone back to sleep regardless of Annabeth's request.

I fell asleep to the lull of Percy's voice and the occasional laugh that melted through the walls, glad he was finally acting like himself.