Percy Jackson's dad is a local legend.

Well, he was actually a national legend, but the fervour around his surfing achievements never really died down in his home town even when the national news stopped reporting his every tournament win.

So when Percy graduates from surf lifesaving to being a lifeguard, no one's really surprised that he gets the second best times and scores in the club's history, beaten only by his dad. He vows to break the records at next year's trials. Sally tears up when she sees him in the uniform for the first time, because, god, he looks so much like his dad.

On Percy's very first shift he spots a girl caught in a rip, struggling to keep her head above water. His supervisor, Beckendorf, is busy getting instructions for another rescue over the radio and Percy knows that this girl can't wait, so he grabs a board and goes out after her. Beckendorf is screaming at him from the beach, because even though Percy's good he's still a rookie, but Percy's focus has narrowed to this girl and getting her on his board.

Which he does. They catch a perfectly timed wave back to shore and the girl is shaking and spitting up seawater but she's alive. Beckendorf claps Percy on the back and congratulates him on his first rescue - but then threatens to put him on skatepark duty if he ever does that again. (Not that that's much of a threat, Percy knows all of the kids at the skate park and that'd probably be a great shift, actually.)

He takes great pride in being one of the "boys in blue" and bonds well with the other guys. Even though he's one of the youngest there, he quickly proves that his skills are well beyond average and he becomes an unofficial leader of the group, someone the others always turn to in a crisis.

He actually doesn't mind the crazy busy days because he likes always having something to do, and when he makes multiple rescues in a day he feels extra accomplished.

But the slow days are all right too, especially when he's on with Beckendorf. They roam the beach and take turns racing the ATV along the sand. Beckendorf tells Percy about his girlfriend, Silena, and Percy listens dutifully, even though they're so obviously in love it makes him feel kind of queasy.

Sometimes Percy takes the jetski out and tests its limits.

He gets to know the locals and regulars, sees the same people in the same places every day and recognises the stuff they leave behind on the sand while they surf.

This one girl with dark skin and choppy hair comes surfing at the less popular, more dangerous beach around the bluff most days. They've never said anything more than a quick "hey" to each other, but Percy always makes a point of smiling at her when he passes, and she always smiles back.

It's a saturday at the start of summer and Percy's just reunited a lost little boy with his parents when a call comes over the radio: Two girls are drifting a little too far out for comfort and Chiron's called from the tower for someone to go bring them in before they get into trouble. Percy's closest, so he takes it.

From the beach the girls' features aren't really distinguishable, but they don't seem to be too distressed. He paddles out against the strong currents and reaches them easily. One of them is the surfer girl he sees most days, and the other one -

His breath catches. She's tanned, with blonde hair and beautiful grey eyes and oh god she's the most beautiful thing Percy's ever seen. His mind is immediately flooded with stories that his mum used to tell him when he was younger, of sirens haunting these waters, singing and luring sailors out to sea.

The girl looks up at him, pushes her wet hair out of her eyes and says, "Hi."

"Hey." He tries to sound professional and sure of himself. "There's a rip out here, you guys should come back in a bit."

"Oh," the surfer girl says, and swings her board around.

The blonde continues treading water. "Are you here to rescue us?" she drawls.

Percy tries not to blush. "Uh, yeah. I mean, if you need to be rescued, that is."

The surfer girl rolls her eyes and starts paddling in, leaving Percy floating out there alone with the blonde.

Leaving her bottom half submerged, she grabs the side of his board with both hands and hoists herself up so that she can look him the ey. Her arms are super toned and Percy is more than a little impressed.

"I don't need to be rescued," she says. He swallows and nods. Her eyes are a stormy grey and she looks criminally good in her bikini. "But," she adds, "I wouldn't mind a ride in, now that Piper's abandoned me."

He grins at her and pats the board. "Climb aboard."

She does. "I'm Annabeth, by the way," she says over her shoulder. "Probably a good idea for you to know my name before checking out my butt."

"Percy," he manages to reply without too much of a tremor, "and I'm a professional lifeguard, so you don't have anything to worry about."

The smirk she throws him makes him think she knows perfectly well that's a lie, and that she doesn't really mind.

Percy takes her back into shore, where Piper is wringing her hair out with an oversized beach towel. "It's nice to finally meet you," she says, "after seeing you here for so long."

"Yeah, you too." Percy tries to focus on Piper and ignore Annabeth bending over to grab her towel.

Piper sounds a little too smug when she says, "You know, Annabeth's here for the whole summer."

Percy's face flushes pink. "She is?"

"I am," Annabeth says with a grin, draping her towel over her shoulders.

"Oh. well I'll - I'll see you soon, then, I guess." Percy gives them a wide smile and an awkward little wave and starts off down the beach, because if he looks at Annabeth for much longer he's going to say something stupid, he just knows it.

He hears the girls whispering behind him and then Annabeth calls his name.

He stops and turns and she almost runs into him. Drops of water are dripping from her hair down her temples and her eyes are wide and hopeful. "What time do you finish today?"

"Four."

"Do you think you could show me somewhere good to eat tonight?"

He glances back at Piper, who is innocently scrubbing her board and very pointedly not looking at them.

"Piper not a good enough tour guide?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

Annabeth leans forward and whispers conspiratorially, "She's vegetarian, and I have a bad craving for burgers. Don't wanna rub it in her face, you know?"

Percy nods. "Yeah, okay."

Annabeth bites her lip. "So. I'll see you at the tower at four?"

"Yeah! I'll see you there."

Annabeth jogs back to Piper, leaving a slightly stunned Percy standing in the sand.

A buzz from his radio brings him back to the present. Beckendorf sounds like he's holding in a laugh when he says, "Get up here, Casanova, the ATV needs refueling and Leo's asked for you."

Percy heads back, grinning like an idiot and counting down the minutes until four. It's the only time he's ever willed a shift to go faster.