After the Titan War, Camp Half-Blood did not have many problems with monster attacks.

With the death of Kronos, all monsters that followed him dispersed, unsure of who to attack and where to go. Many accidentally killed themselves with all of the curious contraptions in New York City and went back to Tartarus. Some went into hiding. The few that were smart enough to stay away from construction cranes and bold enough to stay in the open roamed the city, looking for their next meal of either trash or demigod (either one worked).

Obviously, a camp filled with tasty, butter-smelling demigods would attract some attention, despite the magic borders, but it was nothing that the teenagers couldn't handle. It was all in a day's work.

When a monster did manage to track the camp down, those on guard duty typically had a warning from the Apollo kids in the trees. Those kids could see anything with their binoculars. Once the monster was spotted, it was taken care of fairly easily and with little effort. Monster attacks simply turned into disruptions for the guards' naps. They became a nuisance, not a danger. Since the demigods almost always had a heads up, it wasn't fair for the monster who was simply trying to do its best at getting a meal.

It was almost pitiful.

Surprise attacks were very rare, almost nonexistent. The campers (Annabeth) had created an almost perfect defense system that was meant to limit distractions and encourage vigilance.

Except, of course, for one occasion.

One evening, during dinner, a hellhound managed to slip past all of the Apollo kids' views. Maybe it was the smell of the special pot roast that night, celebrating the holiday of Thanksgiving. Maybe it was the fact that the bonfire the night before ran until midnight because it was the first "Throwback Thursday" karaoke night since the summer. Maybe it was the fact that a new, older Aphrodite camper was tanning on the beach and the trees just so happened to have a perfect view of the beach. Whatever the reason the Apollo kids claimed it to be, the hellhound slipped by the first defenses nonetheless.

None other than Percy Jackson was a part of the second line of defenses for the camp that evening.

He was visiting over Thanksgiving break, coming that Thursday night of the holiday and planning on leaving on Sunday. Annabeth was already at the camp when he arrived because her school gave the students the whole week off. All the new couple wanted was to be with their friends, eat some good food, and maybe have some alone time. That didn't seem like a lot to ask for.

So here Percy Jackson was, sitting, propped up against a tree facing the Long Island Sound, enjoying the view and tranquility of the moment. A couple of months ago, he was convinced he was going to die at the hands of a cursed sword. Now he was watching the waves, an hour away from ending his watch at his most favorite place on Earth (only second to his home with his mom) and eating a fantastic dinner with the girl of his dreams. Percy wasn't the type of guy to believe in happy endings, but if things were to end for him right then at that moment, he'd be pretty happy.

Maybe he shouldn't have processed that thought.

Sitting there, Percy felt completely at peace. His trusty sword (in pen form) was tucked into his jeans pocket. Not even the camp's weather protection could keep out the beginnings of autumn's chill, leaving most campers, including Percy, in jeans and their camp t-shirt.

He kept on his chest plate, but pulled off all other armor, leaving his arms and legs vulnerable to the breeze. He never wore a helmet as it made his head feel heavy and obscured his vision. Besides, Percy always reasoned that if someone was going to hit you in the head, there wasn't much the metal helmet was going to do against a celestial bronze blade so you might as well learn without that false comfort. Percy was single-handedly the reason for the increasing amount of helmets ending up unused in the shed as the kids he taught did not want to seem "uncool" to the Hero of Olympus. Percy at this point could feel Chiron's disapproving glance whenever this occurred but Percy simply shrugged and continued teaching anyway.

He sighed and looked at his watch, praying that the last forty-five minutes would go by quickly. He knew that Annabeth was waiting on him tonight, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her more late than she already was for the amazing dinner that night.

Percy pulled some grass from the dirt to fiddle with as he waited. He couldn't see any other demigods nearby on watch, but it wasn't usual for a slight spread to occur between them.

Slouching against the tree, he sighed again and checked his watch again. To his disdain, only two minutes had passed.

Continuing to play with grass, his ears perked when he heard a slight rustle from a patch of trees on his left. It was where the beach turned into the woods, so it was dense with vegetation and hard to see through.

Percy stood to get a better look, but could not notice anything suspicious roaming about. Shrugging to himself, he turned back to the water, figuring it was some small animal as bunnies were not exempt from the border's boundaries.

He stared at the water, thinking about his father and Tyson. He wanted to pay them a visit that weekend but he wasn't sure he would have time. There were rumors of a surprise Capture the Flag tournament, which Percy would not miss for the world. He and Annabeth were supposed to be opponents next game so it was game on.

If Percy hadn't been thinking about his packed schedule for that weekend, maybe he would have heard the snap of branches coming from behind him.

One second, he was staring at the beautiful blue waters of the Sound. The next, he was face-planting into the sand as his legs were suddenly pulled backward from underneath of him.

Despite his powers, they did not protect him from getting sand in his eyes.

Blind and disoriented, Percy felt himself getting dragged into the woods by his legs. He opened his mouth to yell out for help only to cough up sand. Pain shot up his arms and torso as he was dragged over broken branches and rocks. Thankfully, the curse of Achilles kept his body in one piece. He tried to grab for anything to slow his kidnapper, but whatever they were, they were big and they didn't seem to plan on stopping anytime soon.

Due to his belly-down position, Percy couldn't twist his body to see what was the culprit. However, based on the sounds of four pounding feet as they moved, Percy had a few good guesses.

Pressure flared around Percy's waist as his body was suddenly jerked sideways, narrowly missing a tree.

Finally off of his stomach, Percy was able to look down and see the glowing red eyes of a hellhound staring back at him. Its teeth were clamped tightly on his leg.

But there was no pain in his leg? If anything, it was his waist.

This was either a very good sign or a very bad one.

The hellhound growled and jerked its head, against tossing Percy. It continued to do so like a dog with a chew toy. Percy grunted with each hit against the ground. His sneakers flew off. His shirt was starting to tear. The pressure around his waist continued to build as he was violently tossed by his leg.

It's hard to think when getting tossed around like a rag doll, but he didn't have much choice. He struggled to look at his leg through the movements, trying to figure out if it was still attached to his body.

One tends to forget about the curse of Achilles when suddenly becoming a chew toy.

Satisfied that his body was still in one piece, he was able to determine that the large dog had clamped down on his pants, but not his leg.

He also was able to figure out that the continuous pressure around his waist was from his trusty belt, holding his pants in place.

Percy had to leave a good review on this company's website. This belt works great! Managed to keep my pants on as I got thrown around by a two-thousand-pound dog. Five stars!

He couldn't exactly tell where he was in the woods so he didn't know if a watch guard was nearby. He had to assume he was in this alone for now.

Percy knew he had to get the pants off. The hellhound did not seem interested in releasing the clothing anytime soon, and Percy did not want to see how long the monster could whip its head around.

Crashing again into the ground, Percy stopped struggling and began working on his belt.

He found out that it is really hard to undo a belt when a hellhound was tossing him around.

The more you know.

Right as the hellhound reared back into an upswing, Percy pulled on his belt, freeing the prong from the small hole. Percy suddenly felt weightless as he was tossed unceremoniously out of his pants.

He landed a few yards from the hellhound, who had stopped moving when it realized the weight to its new toy had suddenly disappeared. Percy quickly patted himself down to ensure that he was indeed alive and pantless.

Standing, Percy laughed to himself at the situation and reached for Riptide.

"That was one heck of a ride, but-"

Or, at least, where Riptide should have been.

It suddenly clicked in Percy's brain that no pants meant no pockets, and no pockets meant no Riptide. The memory of a certain flaming gymnasium popped into his head.

The pants in question still hung lifelessly from the monster's jaws, teasing him.

Percy actually really liked those jeans, too.

He turned and bolted back to camp, cursing loudly as he heard the hellhound close behind.

He stubbed his socked toes multiple times as he ran over roots and plants, the bottom of his feet getting stabbed by the occasional sticks and rocks. He never slowed.

Percy also realized that he was about to run into the middle of the mess hall, during the busiest time of day, in a half-torn off shirt, no pants, and no shoes. He was very grateful that phones were not allowed at camp because he would have been all over the internet.

The mess hall came into view between the trees. He could Annabeth standing on the edge, near the woods, likely waiting for his arrival. She appeared to be talking to a small group of campers.

Whatever they were talking about could wait.

"Annabeth!" he called, stumbling over another root.

She looked up confused in his direction.

"Help!"

Her eyes finally focused on his approaching form. He could see them widen as she took in the chasing monster. Pushing the campers behind her, she drew her knife and started towards them. The other campers called for backup, causing a large number of campers to move swiftly from their tables and towards the woods.

She stopped suddenly. "Your pants-?" she exclaimed confusedly as he ran up to her.

He stopped and faced the hellhound that was only a few yards away. "Long story… Look out!" He rolled to the side as Annabeth stepped up to take on the monster.

It had dropped his pants at some point during their journey so it immediately came at Annabeth with wide-open jaws. She pushed its head away with the flat of her blade, ducking underneath of it, but almost immediately doubled over as the monster reared back for a second.

Did she get hurt?

Percy almost called out her name in concern when he noticed the bright smile on her face, her non-knife hand holding her stomach, and her shoulders shaking.

She was laughing. Hard.

He could hear her hysterical laughing over the sound of the hellhound's roaring. It seemed offended.

"Are you seriously laughing at me, right now?" he yelled in disbelief.

Her response was to only laugh harder.

The hellhound had enough. It charged at her again, trying to swipe her with its paws. Annabeth easily sidestepped into the move and stabbed the monster in the side of the head. It dissolved into dust.

She never stopped laughing.

She was still doubled over when Percy walked over to her. He crossed his arms in a childlike manner, pouting at his girlfriend's antics. She looked up at him for a second, only to break out into another fit of laughter.

Percy loved her laugh so he didn't mind. It was just the fact that she was laughing at him.

"I could have died-" they both knew that was not true, "-and you're just going to laugh at me? Aren't you supposed to be the adult here?" he said in false exasperation.

She finally stood but her shoulders were shaking. She had tears pouring down her face, still laughing.

"You- running up- the hellhound- dolphins!" she snorted and doubled over again.

Yes, he was, in fact, wearing dolphin boxers.

He also had goldfish, seahorse, and starfish patterned ones that he wore proudly. He just never thought that the entire camp would get to see them. A blush crept up his neck.

The sound of hooves trotting up signaled Chiron's arrival. He had a bow over his shoulder.

"What is… oh." He raised his eyebrows. It was one of the few times that Percy had seen Chiron rendered speechless. A laughing Annabeth Chase and blushing, almost naked Percy Jackson in the middle of camp was definitely on his list of strange sights. "I, uh, assume everything has been handled properly here?"

Percy cleared his throat. "Yeah, we, uh, got it handled. Thanks, Chiron." He held up a sheepish thumbs up.

Chiron silently nodded, his eyes moving back and forth between the two. "I don't want to know what happened, just please make yourself decent before you head to dinner."

Percy's eyes widened and he stuttered out, "No, I-I was on watch and a hellhound-"

Chiron held up a hand. He seemed to be holding back laughter. He silently turned to head back to the Big House. The crowd started to clear with him, whispers breaking out as people left to continue dinner.

Percy let out a breath and turned back to Annabeth, who was finally calming down. She still had a large smile on her, now, red face and her eyes were shining from her tears. A fresh set of small giggles left her mouth as he approached her. She covered her mouth to try and stop them but she was not doing a great job.

It was adorable to Percy.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You think this is funny?"

She shook her head vigorously. "No. Not at all." She dropped her hand and took a deep breath. The daughter of Athena looked down at her feet for a second before looking up at Percy with an intensely serious face. Almost immediately, she snorted and broke again, covering her mouth.

Percy jokingly rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms again. He secretly was enjoying this too.

"Okay, okay, fine." She stepped towards him and uncrossed his arms with her hands, lacing their fingers together. She reached up and kissed his nose, still smiling. "I'm sorry, okay? Watching you run for your life in nothing, but rags, socks, and dolphin boxers was definitely not the single, greatest thing I have ever seen. Happy?"

Percy tilted her head like he was contemplating her apology. He hummed. "Fine, I guess I will accept your apology."

"Good." She kissed him. "Because I feel a headache coming on which is telling me that you better go get clothes on before my mom zaps you to Hades."

It was Percy's turn to laugh as they separated.

"You know," Percy started as they started to turn back to the cabins, hand in hand. "I'm so happy that no one can have phones so no one could have recorded this-"

He stopped short when he turned and saw Travis Stoll smiling at him, a handheld camcorder in his hand. A red light was blinking. His brother was next to him, watching the viewfinder.

"Zoom in on his boxers! It's dolphins!" They laughed together. "Man, I am so happy we're gonna have this moment on video forever."

Percy prayed to the god of camcorders that the device would suddenly stop working.

Annabeth (bless her perceptive heart) must have heard his thoughts because she stepped in front of him, blocking him from the camera's view.

"Okay, boys. Show's over. Go bother someone at dinner. We'll be there soon."

Travis wiggled his eyebrows at them before snapping the viewfinder shut, and the two of them took off towards the mess hall.

Annabeth turned back towards him, quickly looking at him up and down with a smirk on her face, before kissing him again. She squeezed his bicep.

"Okay, seriously, go put pants on because I give you about two more minutes before my mom goes ballistic."

That was the second time Percy went running through camp in his underwear.

/

This one was fun. It's been in the queue for two years and I finally got around to finishing it.

I'm on a damn roll with these one-shots and my update. Writing makes good procrastination.

I decided to make this compilation so it's easier for you guys to follow my stories. This will keep them all in one place. I think I'm also going to make a second compilation titled "What If?" where I write one-shots based on "what ifs" from PJO and HoH. I've been rereading recently and there's a lot of scenes where things could have gone differently so it's free ideas for me! This story will be events that are not directly related to the books and just ideas in my head.

I want to try and write more this winter. I've been writing a lot this past week or two and it seems to help my anxiety before going to bed. So lookout, there will hopefully be more to come soon!

Let me know what you think about the story and keep an eye out for the next compilation.

Sorry for any errors, blah blah blah. See y'all soon.