A/N: You see, I have this horrible habit of writing stories when life's too busy and I'm already struggling to keep up with my other story. Because I just see things on the internet and get ideas, ya know? :P Anyways, enjoy. (Overly competitive ships are my weakness I just- asdfghjkl ugh)
It was Jason's birthday and one of his childish best friends- Percy Jackson- had suggested throwing a laser tag birthday party. So here they were, much to even Jason's (he had been reluctant at first) excitement. Jason had deliberately invited an even odd number of people so that, when you counted him, they'd have perfectly even teams. They'd ended up with seven vs seven and now it was time to pick teams. Winning team got cake first, so of course the objective sparked even more competition through him and his friends.
"It is so on, Thals," Jason Grace grinned, looking at his older sister standing on the other side of the musky room, filled with fog machines. She stood out brightly in her lighted up red armor. Jason stood opposite to her, everyone else lined up against a wall, decorated in his brightly lit, blue laser tag armor. Her electric blue eyes met his, her mouth tugging at the corner in a smirk.
"Oh please, baby brother," she said, "I never lose," Thalia declared, her expression that of a fierce warrior. Jason, being the birthday boy, had been designated a team captain and had picked the color blue, because he was very much planning on picking Percy on his team, who would complain had Jason picked red. Jason had then appointed Thalia the other team captain, this time of the opposite, red team. "You can pick first," she offered, her eyes glittering excitedly like a child.
Jason laughed, rolling his eyes at her and immediately pointed to Leo, his oldest best friend. The little Hispanic boy grinned, walking over to the rack and picking up blue protective gear and a blue gun, that lit up immediately. He came and stood next to Jason, sticking his tongue out at Thalia, who snorted and did the same in retaliation.
"I'm stealing your girlfriend, Grace," Thalia cackled mischievously as she picked Piper McLean first for her team. "Emotional manipulation," she whispered evilly, smirking smugly, causing Annabeth Chase, who was still lined up with the others, to laugh.
"Ugh, you suck," Jason retorted at his sister, Piper laughing good-naturedly as she slipped red over her green top and came to stand by the older, spiky, dark-haired girl. "I want Perce," Jason picked his other best friend, Percy Jackson. The boy with sea green eyes and raven hair grinned and slipped blue over himself. He walked over to Jason and bro-fisted him.
"You can have Jackson, because Chase is all mine. Annie, come here darling!" Thalia exclaimed with glee, pleased as Jason groaned. Out of everyone, Annabeth was, in some ways, the most valuable. Not only could she execute plans near flawlessly due to being athletic, she was the best planner by far.
"She's unstoppable!" Jason pointed out, causing Annabeth to only smirk at him and Thalia to snicker. Jason surveyed his team so far. The teams were about even, but it looked like they were splitting into teams by gender, though not purposefully. "Look Thals," Jason proposed, "how about a classic match of boys versus girls?" he suggested.
Thalia didn't hesitate, ever the one to try and prove the male gender wrong. "Oh, hell yes!" she exclaimed, even more excited, if that was even possible. "Reyna, Hazel, Callie, and Juniper, you guys are mine! Suit up ladies, we've got asses to kick."
Percy rolled his eyes. "You're going down, Thals," he called from the other end, Thalia not giving him another glance. "Neeks, Frank, Willow, Grover my man, over here. Suit up, we've got victories to complete," Percy announced just as loudly, his friendly rivalry with Thalia very obvious. Though not everyone knew each other well, everyone was very familiar with Thalia and Jason, and at the least, knew each other's names. Percy watched his teammates drape themselves in blue, the color of fucking victory in his opinion, and scanned the competitors. His gaze landed on the blonde girl with a fierce fiery gaze and grey eyes, the one they'd said was unstoppable. He gazed upon none other than Ms. Annabeth Chase, the planner, and the main brilliant mind of everyone. Her armor was already perfectly on and she too was scanning everyone with her calculating eyes, probably already scheming. Percy didn't know her personally, but he knew her impressive reputation and her gorgeous name.
However, since she was already done preparing, her eyes locked with his, him smirking smugly, her staring him down, a tiny smirk adorning her rosy lips as well. She walked over to him, since he'd bravely decided to make eye contact with her. And fuck if she didn't look like a freaking Greek goddess, like a warrior princess with those irresistible golden curls, and terrifyingly, stormy, beautiful grey eyes. His lips parted in astonishment because dear gods, she was beautiful.
"Your armor's crooked," Annabeth said, smirking at the look on his face, as he snapped out of his daze. He was, unfortunately, attractive, in Annabeth's opinion. She did not, under any circumstances, want to like the enemy. The enemy were going down!
"What?" Percy asked, not quite hearing what she'd said the first time.
"Your armor. It's crooked," she stated matter-of-factedly.
"Oh," Percy flushed pink from embarrassment, praying she couldn't see it in the darkness. Based off the way her smirk deepened, he figured she unfortunately could see it very clearly. He fixed it hastily, tearing his gaze away from her heavenly self.
"See you in the battlefield," she hid a smile at his embarrassment, choosing not to acknowledge the fact that he was very good-looking as well. He looked like a Roman god with his dark, lamp black, unruly hair, and bright, hypnotizing eyes. And with that, Annabeth turned on her heels, walking away to join her team.
Both teams lined in front of the giant metal doors, ready to run into the glow-in-the-dark maze and find their respective places for team bases. The timer beeped, counting down, as the doors rattled open with a screech. Chaos exploded, both teams running in separate directions frantically before the timer went off, signifying the beginning of the game. Ten seconds later, the loud beep went off, scaring the crap out of everyone, and awakening the competitive surge throughout. epic music played as they raced for sections.
Thalia raced up the orange-light reflecting stairs of the west wing, ignoring the paint marks and letting the music only pump her adrenaline. Annabeth was hot on her trail, already making a plan, but holding off her thoughts until they'd reached their temporary home base. First, they needed to find the perfect spot.
"Here!" Piper called out softly, her keen eyes detecting a decent base, that could serve as a perfect hiding area as well.
Reyna grinned. "Look over here!" she pointed to the edge of the platform. There was a balcony that surveyed over the entire west wing, with holes to shoot the blue team through.
Juniper shared a smile with Hazel. Though both normally very sweet, the incentive of first pick of cake was enough to spark their fire.
Calypso gestured over to the left. "There's even mirrors and boxes over here," she declared. "We can shift them over to the edges to build walls and to spot our enemies from afar."
"Good thinking," Annabeth piped in.
Thalia spoke up then. "So, Annie." Nobody else could call Annabeth Chase 'Annie,' but Thalia. "Got a plan yet?"
Annabeth grinned deviously. "The perfect one," she confirmed. "Now listen up," she began, as the girls leaned in, some listening from afar as they shifted the objects as the final touches for their makeshift fortress.
Jason scampered up the east wing after seeing Thalia race in the general western direction; best to be as far away from them as possible, hopefully avoiding more casualties. To Thalia, and definitely Percy, this was war. Jason couldn't keep the fond smile off his face when he thought of the bickering pair, knowing full well that Thalia considered Percy another brother, just like Jason no matter what she said.
Percy's light footsteps followed his, and Jason glanced to see a smaller frame flanking his left side, letting him know that his Latino friend was close. Frank Zhang closed ranks in the back, guarding as the caboose. Nico di Angelo surpassed Jason, leading the team up further, all the boys knowing Nico was the best at blending in and would be able to sense and avoid trouble first, before anyone else even realized what was happening.
Will Solace, with his golden hair stayed near Jason, hoping that any attacker would mistake him for Jason and shoot him instead of their team captain, knowing shooting Jason and taking down their leader would weaken the group worse and give Thalia and her squad more satisfaction. Grover stayed in the middle back, behind Will, but near Frank, making sure the backside was properly secured and it wasn't just Frank on alert.
In an unspoken formation, they scurried up the east wing as quickly as possible, their feet nimble... for the most part. Occasionally, Jason would hear a mutter or two of pain under Leo Valdez's breath when he ungracefully ran into something, earning a chuckle or two from the blond boy. It was very dark after all. The music pounded in their ears, causing them to put their battle faces on because gods know they weren't about to lose to Jason's sister at his own birthday party. They surveyed their area, taking in the context, and seeing what they could work with.
Their area was more closed off than the red team's, making it harder to enter, but also harder to exit easily. There were only three entrances/exits, which they all added to their mental maps immediately. "So," Grover spoke up. "Anyone got a plan?"
Silence washed over their group. "I just wing it usually," Percy added thoughtfully.
"Me too," Leo spoke up, being just as helpful as Perce.
"We've got to outsmart Annabeth," Grover groaned, full well knowing that strategy would be their weak point.
"So?" Percy spoke up. "We can do this, you guys," he encouraged, ever the optimist. The six other boys just stared at him. Though not all of them knew Annabeth very well besides Grover and Jason, they were all very sure that Percy had just said the stupidest thing imaginable.
"It's... Annabeth, dude," Leo deadpanned, only making Percy more and more intrigued about the breathtaking blonde.
"That's no way to talk," Frank said, snapping out of it. "We can do this, Percy's right. And you know what? I've got a plan." Jason piped in sometimes, adding to the plan, Nico more rarely, but also spoke up, improving upon Zhang's plan. After about two minutes, they were ready for action.
Thalia rolled out of the empty south wing's ground floor, hiding behind a wall and avoiding the lights spinning on the robot painted disco ball. She pressed her back against a spray painted black 'X' on the cement wall, her red gun held out before her carefully. Calypso and Piper flanked her, Annabeth leading another assault from the north wing with Reyna and Juniper.
Hazel guarded base, making sure it was safe for them to retreat back to at all times. The small, cocoa-skinned girl also crouched from the top of the balcony area, her bright gun ready to pick off any unsuspecting blue targets scattered on the ground floor beneath the west wing.
As Annabeth encroached on blue territory, she heard the sound of lasers going off way across the laser tag course. The shots came from the south wing, alerting her that Thalia's group had run into some trouble. She trekked forward into the east wing, ignoring the firing shots. They had a goal and it would be too easy if they didn't run into some trouble. She chuckled when hearing some colorful curses echo throughout, recognizing the voice and the interesting word choice immediately as Sparky's older sister.
Reyna held her gun out, siding Juniper, making sure she was safe as well from blue laser-bullets. It wasn't too soon until they approached trouble. Annabeth stiffened, leaning back and hiding behind barriers once she spotted the familiar blue light. She scoffed at how careless they were with flashing their lights everywhere. Annabeth was careful to blend in as much as possible.
A blue, however, spotted her golden hair that lit up in the darkness. Gritting her teeth and silently cursing her curls, she surged forward, but Reyna was already there, shooting blindly and nearly hitting what seemed like Frank. Fuck. There were four of them and three of the reds. Annabeth squinted, recognizing them as Frank, Grover, Percy, and Will.
Blue laser bullets fired back, nearly hitting Reyna. Or so they thought. Reyna, with her heavenly quick reflexes, deflected it into an orange, yellow, glow-in-the-dark painted wall. She fired again, her black, shiny braid whipping with her smooth, deliberate motions. Juniper's redder, brighter hair stood out as well, and unfortunately Percy caught side of the pretty, petite girl.
He fired, hitting her arm, and lighting up her entire red armor. Juniper blushed, her face's hue matching the color of her vibrating, buzzing armor. "Fuck," Annabeth cursed, narrowing her eyes at her green-eyed boy. He caught her gaze and sarcastically smirked, hitting the deck as she shot in retaliation. Annabeth stopped firing once her steam had run out and once it become apparent that she wouldn't be able to get a clear shot of him when he was hiding behind barriers.
"Sorry, guys," Juniper apologized, Reyna and Annabeth waving her apologies away.
"Not a big deal, Juniper," Reyna started.
"Yeah. Thals and them probably managed to get someone by now," Annabeth said hopefully, waiting for the four boys to retreat. She would fire then. Sure enough, a minute or two later, the bright haired boy made a run for it. Annabeth hesitated, but Reyna shot a few times as the other boys rose to their feet, trying to escape alongside their friend, and the sound of Reyna's gunfire sent Annabeth out of her untimely pause. Juniper started shooting as well and so Annabeth narrowed her ever terrifying eyes, and shot, determination coursing through her veins.
She was going for Percy, of course she was, but she missed... hitting Grover square in the back. He groaned, Percy hissing in frustration. Frank ushered Grover out, Will right on his heels as they escaped. Reyna grinned at Annabeth, Juniper congratulating the blonde for her shot, even if it was a stroke of luck.
Percy glanced back before running after the other three blue members, but his eye contact with Annabeth was clear. I'm getting you for that. Though it was a friendly threat, Annabeth's heart still raced a little faster, automatically. His eyes were enchanting with those emerald green orbs.
"Follow them!" Juniper declared, tailing the boys, Reyna and Annabeth on her sides.
"They're probably heading to their base," Annabeth explained as they ran, panting. "If we can take over the base, we can lure blues back home and shoot them down as well," she said, her brain racing faster than any pair legs ever could. They turned the corner, seeing the blue lights as they chased the blue team, running faster and faster.
Reyna started shooting, Juniper and Annabeth once again following her example. One of the boys squealed really high pitched, causing Annabeth to laugh, as they ran. Juniper soon started laughing as well, followed by Reyna, at Annabeth's enthusiasm.
"That wasn't me," they heard after a few seconds as they Reyna closed in on their enemies, gaining more and more speed. Annabeth assumed it was Will, denying his girly squeak from a few minutes ago.
"Who else was it, princess?" Annabeth snorted, Reyna aiming and firing again.
"Sassy, aren't you?" she heard a masculine voice before her say as they kept running, still pursuing them. Her stomach dropped at Percy's voice. Fuck him for getting into her head.
"Surprise," Reyna exclaimed, cutting off the boys, as Annabeth had instructed their team earlier. When in pursuit of the blue team, split up and take them at different angles. Annabeth chased from behind, Juniper had gone left, and Reyna right. Reyna then shot, hitting Will in his side, causing more groans from their entire team once more.
Annabeth laughed once more, at Reyna's less dramatic, but equally as hilarious sass. She slowed down, meeting up with Juniper and Reyna, deciding to stop chasing them now that they'd hit half of their mini squad.
Back in the south wing, neither Thalia, Piper, nor Calypso had gotten hit yet, but they hadn't shot any enemy yet either. They'd run into some trouble earlier, but both teams had escaped clean of laser fire. But the blue-eyed girl had heard echoes of glee from her other teammates, mainly Annabeth from way across somewhere in the darkness. She'd seen blue lights light up from far away and was proud to know her fellow lady warriors were kicking ass in their segment of ground.
Now Calypso, Piper, and her moved forward, encroaching into her little brother's area. She internally laughed her ass off at her brother. Thalia was nearly completely positive that the red team was in the lead. Not like she was surprised, Annie was a genius according to her and this game was mainly all strategy. It was time to execute another one of the grey-eyed girl's plans to sucker the blue team.
Piper stepped back into a corner of the south wing, nodding slightly at Calypso and Thalia. Thalia and Callie moved into the middle maze of the ground floor a little more, ready with their guns to step in, should Piper get in trouble. From encountering blue earlier, Thalia was well aware that the mini squad had been broken up by her mini squad and were currently traveling in an even smaller group. Relying on that information and Annabeth's carefully thought out instructions, Thalia licked her lips in anticipation, ready to bring down her brother. Annabeth told them that not only would it be super awesome to bring down blond superman to his knees, but it would make his entire team weaker as a whole because their leader was the basis of their group. She would be right, Thalia was positive as she placed her hope into Annabeth, even from afar.
She nodded once more at Piper, giving the brunette the 'go time' signal. Piper smirked deviously, ready to put her excellent acting skills to use. "Jason!" she cried out, letting out a guttural scream. Thalia knew her loyal, love sick, sucker of a brother wouldn't even care that they were in the middle of the game. Hearing her sound so distraught would pull him out of any nook and cranny, determined to come to her rescue. Thalia couldn't hide her smirk as she waited under cover with Calypso.
In a different area of the south wing and split up from Leo as well as Nico, Jason heard his girlfriend's cry. First and foremost, panic built in him. What if she was hurt? Or in trouble? Suddenly, it didn't matter if she was on the opposite team, even though he full well knew this could be a trap. He needed to see her. He set his jaw, holding his gun out in front of him and darted towards the screaming voice of his dear, beautiful Piper McLean.
Leo was separated from both Nico and Jason as well, but he recognized Piper's shrieks immediately and then instantly knew that Jason would dart to save her, no matter what. "Stupid hero, going off to get himself shot down," he muttered under his breath, running towards the screaming as well, with the intention of saving the blue team leader. Nico, also hearing the cries, sprinted in the same direction, ready to stop Grace and save his ass.
Jason ran into the clearing, where he could easily get shot by Calypso. In fact, he was standing right in front of the caramel, almond-eyed girl, a clear target. Still Calypso waited, wanting to rub salt into the wound even more, under Annabeth's orders. Thalia covered her mouth to keep from laughing. "Piper?" he called out, moving forward to see his girlfriend trembling against a wall, her gun dropped and hanging from the cord attached to her armor. "Are you okay? What's wrong? What happened?" he inquired in a single breath.
"There's a rat in here," she whispered, faking fear like a professional.
"What?" Jason didn't know what he had been expecting, but not that. "Where?" he asked, confused and curious.
Piper slowly pointed to herself, the girl who had exposed him to her mini squad. She slowly grinned mischievously. "Sorry, babe. Beth's orders," she shrugged as Calypso struck him from behind, grinning like a crazy person. Thalia burst out laughing, approaching her brother slowly. She laughed some more at his awe-struck face.
"You're such an idiot, little bro," Thalia snickered, causing Jason to roll his eyes, sighing, but smiling to himself.
"What a loyal little hero," Piper grinned herself, leaning in and pecking Jason's lips for his troubles.
"NOOOOO!" a familiar voice echoed from in front of them, as Leo came in view. "Jason, whyyyyyyy?!" Leo dramatically dropped to his knees, ever the drama queen. Piper stared at him, laughing to herself, Jason shaking his head at the smaller boy.
"Dude, get off the floor," Jason said, laughing under his breath. "You're embarrassing yourself."
"YOU'RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELF!" Leo accused, fake sobbing, as her over-dramatically beat the floor with his fists. "What did you think happened to Pipes? A spider?!" he covered his face with his hands. Nico appeared behind him, clearly hiding an amused smirk over the knelt boy's distress.
"And YOU!" Leo stood to his feet, pointing at his girlfriend. Calypso waved a small wave, shrugging innocently and hiding a smile as well. "I- I don't know whether to be proud of you or not!" Leo exclaimed. "You hit him with so precisely and so quickly, I'm just- WHAT A WOMAN, am I right?" Leo joked, looking at Piper who laughed some more. Calypso even rolled her eyes and let loose a smile. "But still!" he interrupted the laughing of the group. "You have betrayed me, Callie!" he accused, raising his gun. "I SHALL AVENGE YOU, SPARKY!"
"No, wait, LEO-" Jason began, holding his hand up to stop him, but it was to no avail. Nico let out a bullet behind Leo, shooting Calypso before Leo could move. Thalia, infuriated at her little brother-like Neeks, started shooting as the situation escalated. Nico escaped, Jason hit once more, but this time by his sister's bullet. Leo shot Piper, Piper and Calypso both lit up red, Jason blue all over.
"Take that, Beauty Queen!" he laughed, turning and running, dragging lit up Jason behind him as they ran, following Nico.
"Leo!" Piper cursed.
"You tricked my best friend!" he said to Piper, a girl who was like his sister. "HA!" he cried out, as they dashed out of there, as if hell itself was chasing them. Calypso and Piper ran with Thalia, trying to get out before getting shot another time. They ran back to base to check on Hazel, and maybe so two of their armors would stop flashing brightly, before going out again.
As they pounded up the stairs, they heard male voices and ran faster. Frank was there, along with Nico, Reyna, and Hazel of course. Reyna's gun was pointed at Frank, Frank's pointed back at her. Nico, that little shadow blender, pointed his blue gun at his little sister, Hazel Levesque. "You shoot, and so do I," Reyna warned her close friend, Nico. They were standing still, all ready to pull the trigger, but not wanting to risk the casualties. However, with Calypso, Piper, and Thalia there, suddenly it wasn't even a question anymore. Both boys were hopelessly outnumbered.
Nico, slick like oil, shot, striking Hazel seconds after Piper shot Frank. Nico seemingly disappeared, being the ever nimble, silent one, but not before nudging Thalia in front of Reyna's shot, that had originally been meant for Frank. Reyna cursed, apologizing profusely as the stray laser bullet struck their red team leader instead. Thalia groaned as she lit up red.
"It's alright, Reyna," she brushed it off. "My brother already got struck tons of times before me," she assured the taller girl. Reyna sighed in relief, letting Frank leave, but not before shooting him once more. Reyna scurried off in search of Nico, Hazel on her trail this time, while Calypso and Piper decided to guard base. Thalia headed back out the second she stopped buzzing and looking like a cherry.
As Reyna turned down into the center maze, Hazel following her lead, she ran into Annabeth. "Where's Juniper?" she questioned the blonde.
"She's going back to base," Annabeth explained. "She's in search of Calypso, ready to pull a trick on Grover. Plan 4 to be exact," Annabeth stated.
"How'd the other plans go?" Hazel piped up.
"Flawlessly," Annabeth grinned, clearly delighted. The two other girls shared her enthusiasm.
"What are you up to now?" Reyna inquired.
"Trying to get that little rascal, Nico," she explained.
"Great!" Reyna's eyes lit up. She loved Nico to death, but that little punk had it coming. He'd crossed Hazel as well now, so Reyna wanted him shot down. "Have you been shot yet?"
"Nope," Annabeth reassured, popping the 'p.'
"Me either," Reyna nodded. Hazel frowned guiltily. "Hazel did good though," Reyna added, making the petite girl feel better.
"There he is," Annabeth hissed, falling back into the corners, dragging Reyna and Hazel behind as well. "I was trying to figure out how he gets everywhere so smoothly. Nico doesn't sneak around the wings like everyone else does, because he knows neither team is brave enough to chart the center ground floor maze. So he's memorized it and gets around fast. After all, the quickest distance to any point is a straight line. It's faster to go through the center."
Reyna nodded in understanding, Hazel fanning out on the tall blonde's left. "But he's not alone," Hazel pointed out, nodding her head at the figure next to him. Annabeth's heart stuttered at the taller boy. Percy.
"Percy hasn't been shot yet either," Annabeth growled. "And he's being a smug little shit," Annabeth said, competitively. "He's going down, both of them are." Hazel glanced at the taller girl, readying her gun.
"We're ready when you are," Hazel confirmed.
"Alright, look," Annabeth begun. "Hazel, can you go left, work your way through the puzzle and try to come behind them?" Annabeth requested as Nico and Percy made their way closer to their hiding spot, Percy following Nico diligently. Hazel nodded, sneaking off to the left, both Reyna and Annabeth watching as her back disappeared into the great maze. Annabeth looked at Reyna. "Can you stay here, ready to shoot if needed? Kind of like bait if they come too close? I- I want to get closer, be ready for Hazel," she said. Reyna nodded as well, putting her battle face on and ducking, crouching, and waiting patiently with her blue gun ready.
Nico and Percy approached slowly, unsuspecting, but Nico froze all of a sudden, causing Percy to stop as well. "There's someone here," Percy said after a moment, ever Captain Obvious, causing Neeks to roll his eyes. Nico's dark chocolate eyes darted to the side, catching on the light Reyna was giving off with her armor. Reyna paused, knowing full well she'd been caught. There were two of them and one of her, there was no way she could escape this. Nico raised his laser gun and shot as Hazel came around from the back, raising her gun to shoot Nico.
Nico hit Reyna, lighting her up blue, just as Hazel conquered the seemingly impossible task of taking down Nico. Annabeth shot as well, hitting Nico around a millisecond after Hazel. She fired again, aiming for Percy, but missed when he ducked. He flashed her a little sarcastic grin, mouthing the words 'it's just you and me, now', before grabbing Nico by the collar and darting out of there.
Reyna stood up and groaned. "Fuck," Annabeth cursed, looking at her teammate.
"It's cool guys, at least we got Neeks," Reyna smiled kindly. "Who's left?"
"Percy and I," Annabeth murmured, determined. "Let's go. I want to take him down." Hazel led the way this time, being very good with directions and her internal compass. Annabeth and Reyna followed behind her in suit.
They passed Thalia who was squared off with her brother, Jason. Both were laughing, in a stand off about to shoot each other. Thalia met Annabeth's eyes as they passed, and Annabeth nodded slightly, smiling to herself as she shot Jason from behind.
"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed, as the blue lights flashed, causing Thals to crack up.
The trio continued on, heading up to their base as discreetly as possible. Reyna and Hazel sat on the boxes once they got up there, Piper gone by now, only Calypso left there to guard. Annabeth paced, trying to think.
"Where'd Pipes go?" Annabeth inquired.
"She's hunting Frank, Will and Grover to score some more points. She went alone because you draw less attention to yourself if it's just one person," Callie answered, hawk eyes scanning the ground floor, shooting occasionally. She hit Leo once and smirked, glancing back at Annabeth. "Who's left?"
"Her and Percy," Hazel spoke up, standing to her feet, Reyna doing the same.
"Who's going to get him?" Calypso asked, moving from her position of guard when Reyna came forward to give her a break.
"I will," Annabeth decided.
"Really?" Hazel spoke up. "If one of us gets him, you'll be first on the leader-board and the red team wins. If he gets us, it's okay since we've already been shot."
Annabeth shook her head. "He likes to play dirty and definitely likes to taunt me," she said. "I saw him push Juniper lightly in front of target once as he escaped. He's really, really good. And I have a plan," she declared.
"Of course you do," Calypso smirked. "Go get 'em, tiger," she said leaving the base, Reyna and Hazel left to guard. She was in search of Piper, hoping to help out.
Annabeth puffed out a breath. "Wish me luck," she said, turning on her heels, her blonde locks whooshing behind her as she snuck down and out of the base. Percy Jackson was going down.
Percy Jackson was in search of Annabeth as well, knowing full well that the blue team would win if he could shoot her before she shot him. And Percy wanted cake. He wanted first pick with his team, he wanted a corner piece. His mischievous green eyes shifted back and forth as he looked for her, his gun out in front of his full time. Then he saw her, wandering the north wing corners, with her long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, that he kind of wished he could undo and then run his hands through the soft-looking hair.
"Percy," she murmured under her breath, just loud enough for Percy to hear. Percy's ear twitched at the sound, and he aimed, firing rapidly. Annabeth slammed back against wall, taking cover against a barrier.
She twisted, escaping his shots, her heart pumping so loud she was afraid he could hear it. Annabeth turned, scrambling down a side of the exterior mazes, Percy after her. After a few moments, she didn't hear him, but she didn't let him lull her into a false sense of security. She kept on the move, turning back the way she came ever so carefully. And there he was. There Percy stood, leaning against a wall casually, his long curly eyelashes casting shadows on his cheekbones. Annabeth sucked in a deep breath, hugging the wall as she approached.
She turned the corner to face him, her gun dropping slowly to her side and Percy's head snapped to look at her. "Annabeth," he smirked teasingly. "Finally. The match I've been waiting for."
"You could have found me earlier," she let out a nervous, breathless laugh as she approached, her gun still out to match his. Now they were in a standoff, but this time Thalia wasn't here to shoot Perce for her, like she'd shot Jason.
"I decided to bide my time, pick off all your friends, take down your captain, then come find you," he shrugged, casually. "Besides, I've heard you're quite the Wise Girl." Annabeth couldn't help the blood rushing to her face at the compliment. "It would be unwise of me to come after you immediately, I'm assuming."
"Of course it would be unwise," Annabeth whispered, encroaching on his space. But he didn't move, fazed definitely by how close she was, how mesmerizing she was. But he didn't move.
"Maybe I should call you that," Percy added thoughtfully. "Wise Girl. Yeah, I like the sound of that."
"Well you're... you're a Seaweed Brain." Everyone knew Percy was an excellent swimmer, the best always.
Percy laughed and Annabeth decided she liked his laugh. A lot. "That's the best you can come up with?" Percy asked, amused. Annabeth approached closer, choosing not to answer. "What- what are you doing?"
Completing my plan. Instead, she didn't answer, letting her gun loosen in her grip. Percy's grip tightened however, pointing at her armor's chest sensors. He knew he should shoot, his brain was screaming at him to do so, but he hesitated when her breath was on his, when she pushed him up against the wall. He felt hazy, unable to think clearly. His gun clattered out of his hand because oh, oh.
Annabeth's lips pressed against him, and he couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't function. She was gentle, but passionate, and fuck if Percy didn't kiss her back. Percy devoured her, not nearly as careful. Annabeth's kiss suddenly became more fierce, driving him on, as he pulled her closer. It was everything a first kiss should be from her or from him. After prancing around the entire game, Percy's muscles relaxed, his mind officially fried as flicked her tongue into his mouth. Percy groaned, his eyes fluttering shut, her gorgeous grey orbs already shut.
Suddenly, she pulled away, easing off of him. Percy's eyes opened, his sea green eyes gazing upon her with admiration, and definitely a crush if not anything else. Annabeth smirked mischievously and immediately Percy froze, knowing he fucked up. He stared down at his armor as she raised her red gun and he lit up blue.
She shot him. Fuck.
"Did you just-?" Percy groaned, looking down at his flashing, vibrating armor as the music in the arena ended, the final warning bell going off.
Annabeth smiled sweetly at him. "Red teams win."
"Fuck you," he groaned some more, muttering under his breath. Annabeth laughed, and she sounded beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Percy knew he should be mad, and he slightly was, but not really. Not when she laughed like that, not when he'd gotten to kiss her like he'd wanted to so bad. They walked back to the entrance as all their friends moved up to the front, racking their armor and heading out to view the leader-board.
Near the bottom was Thalia and Jason, both having shot each other millions of times. Oh, the sibling rivalry. Thalia cackled gleefully in her baby brother's face and ruffled his hair. Jason groaned in defeat and hugged his sister anyways. Annabeth's eyes fluttered up to top, checking the ranking. Sure enough, there she was. Percy in second... and her in first. Thalia squealed in excitement, ever the child, and ruffled Annabeth's hair, praising Annie for all she was.
"How'd you get him?" Thalia grinned, knowing that Annabeth had taken down Percy in the end.
Percy shook his head, passing Thalia. "She plays dirty," he grumbled, hiding a smile.
"So do you," Thalia reminded him. "Like four of us do."
"Really dirty," he added. "I don't want to talk about it," Percy covered his flushing red face, embarrassed.
Annabeth laughed, explaining the situation to Thalia, who laughed maniacally at Annabeth's tactic in Percy's face. "Sucks to be you, Perce," she snorted, thoroughly amused. Percy maturely stuck his tongue out.
They sang to Jason, letting him blow out the candles. Thalia put cake on Jason's nose and fed him some cake. She took pictures like the loving sister she was, after decorating his face with face. Then the red team got cake first, as promised. Annabeth took a corner piece, the corner being her favorite, and grabbed another corner for someone else.
She came and sat down next to Percy, next to everyone, and pushed the second corner piece in front of him. Percy looked up at her, surprised. "I'm guessing you wanted a corner piece?" she inquired, smiling kindly at him.
"Thanks," Percy said, picking up his fork and smiling up at her. "You did good... Wise Girl. Real good. Jason was right, you really are unstoppable."
Annabeth smiled down at her cake. "Thanks, Seaweed Brain," she said, watching as Thalia got a slice for brother, the slice that said 'Jason' on it. Everyone laughed, boasting about their accomplishments in the arena and telling funny stories. All in all, Annabeth could honestly say it had been one of the best birthday parties she'd ever attended.
A/N: I hope you guys liked it! If you've already read this prompt before, I'm sorry, that must suck. :/ I found the prompt online and decided to give it a go, but I have no doubt this prompt's been done before with various fandoms and ships. Still, I hope you enjoyed it regardless. Let me know what you thought in a review (if you want to, of course) :). Bye, guys! (Also, if anyone has a better title name for this story, let me know. I think my title sucks right now haha.)