All Annabeth saw when she slept was death and screams. Percy yelling out in pain and his eyes going stale as a giant's spear pierced his torso and through his body. Annabeth screams Percy's name, but no sound comes out. Her dream shifts into a dark void with the silhouette of a boy with messy hair and a sword in his hand.
"You let me die. It's all your fault." Says the voice.
"Percy I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I wasn't fast enough to...", Annabeth couldn't finish her sentence. The silhouette faded away and Annabeth Chase awoke to the sounds of cars and people shouting out in the New York night. Ever since Greece she hadn't been able to sleep or focus much.
After the war, Annabeth had decided to move to New York. She attended Empire State University in New York. It felt right in New York she was close to camp, her mom, and Percy. She would go visit is grave out in the cemetery outside the city. The report for mortals was that he had died in a boating accident in Greece. The two years following his death had been rough to say the least.
Annabeth grabbed her phone and dialed the only person she could really think of at this late at night and who would be up.
Peter Parker.
Peter and Annabeth had met their freshman year of college. It took awhile for Annabeth to open up and get to know Peter. She found out that his Uncle Ben had died when he was fifteen, and his girlfriend Gwen Stacy had been killed by a mortal super villain named the Green Goblin the year before he attended college. It wasn't until the following year however when she discovered his 'other' life. Her closest friend was Spider-Man. He had came to her apartment all bloodied and battered after a fight with Doc Ock . While patching him up she decided to tell him about her other life as well.
Over the summer and through the school year the two had covered for each other whenever one had to do hero business as they liked to call it. Peter once even met Annabeth's mother which went as well as one would think when one person is dressed and themed after your sworn enemy. Peter once took Annabeth all the way to the top of the Empire State building for some peace and quite during the rush of finals.
Annabeth smiled at the memory, the rush of swinging through the air and seeing the whole city she felt like she was happy. Her hands started to shake as she looked through her contacts for Peters number.
'Hopefully he's just finishing up a patrol' she thought.
He picked up on the third ring. The sound of gunfire and cursing could be heard in the background.
"This is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, what do I owe you this lovely late night call Ms. Chase". He said over the chaos.
"Peter…the nightmares are back when your done with patrols could you-"
"Hold that thought Annie"
She groaned at the nickname and heard the sounds of webs being shot out and muffled yelling.
"Hi, I'm back Now what where were we?", Peter said in a very tired sounding voice.
"Could you come over to…..stay the night?" Annabeth replied.
"Yeah, I'm about 20 minutes away from your place so I can be on my way"
"Thank you Peter"
She hanged up the phone, curling into her blankets waiting for Peter. Not since Percy had she ever felt so safe with someone. The way he smiled at her during lunch or talking about science and him being interested in what her Demigod life was like was amazing.
She heard her balcony door opened and in walked Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man. Mask off with a cut on his left cheek looking worried as ever.
"Car chase took longer than I thought" he said as he sat on the edge of the bed putting a hand over hers.
The blonde Demigod smiled at him squeezing his hand tightly. "It's fine, all that matters is you're here." She grabbed a small cloth from her nightstand and began disinfecting the cut on Peter's cheek.
"Your reliving the moment all over again aren't you? The battle in Greece…..Percy?
Peter's voice trailed at the mention of Annabeth's dead boyfriend. Just the mention of his name brought tears in Annabeth's grey eyes. Clutching the sheets of her bed holding back the tears she nodded looking at the wall crawler.
"Peter can we…..go to our spot?" Annabeth asked in an almost whispered tone. She needed to get out of her apartment. She needed to think and calm herself. Their spot as they called it was the top of the Empire State building. The gateway to Olympus and their spot to talk about life.
Pulling down his mask the spider themed hero wrapped his arms around her and led her to the window. Opening the window he shot out a web line to a nearby building.
And then they jumped out.
The rush of wind and the sound of cars hit Annabeth like truck. She saw the streets of Manhatten below loved when Peter took her web slinging. It felt therapeutic in a way, Just watching the world wiz by in a blur. No problems no nightmares no monsters trying to kill her. Just her and Peter in their own world where no one could bother them.
The glow of the empire state building came into view as the two friends made their way to the building. As they came to the top of the building thunder could be heard up above. Zeus was not going to let the stay up their for too long. Peter set Annabeth down and took off his mask.
"You know it wasn't your fault Annabeth. You did everything you could to save him." Peter's voice was soft and shaking. "When….when Gwen died I blamed myself for months hell I even quit being Spider-Man. Then I met you."
Annabeth could feel her cheeks go red. Spider Man had been gone for 9 months before the two of them had met Her face flustered more as Peter held her hand. The two sat in silence for a long time probably close to an hour listening to the cars go by as Manhattan moved below them.
Annabeth laid her head on Peter's chest her nerves calmed down. For once in a long time she did not feel afraid to go to sleep. She let the sound of Peters heart drown out the last few years of death and sadness that had consumed her. Maybe this was the start of something more.