A/N: Set in The Last Olympian, before Percy and Beckendorf leave for the Princess Andromeda mission. Also, I'm sorry about Beckendorf in advance. :(

Annabeth was sweating like the inside of a Chimera's cave. She was visiting Beckendorf at the forges, which wasn't much better. She'd found some blueprints for a CCTV-shield while scrounging Daedalus' laptop, and had asked Beckendorf to make it. It could be very useful in the war, to keep track of the enemy's forces and organize their defences.

"Hey, Annabeth!" Beckendorf looked up from his project. Annabeth wiped her brow. It was hotter than a desert in here, but still humid. "Hey, Beckendorf. How's the shield coming up?"

"I think I should be done within the week. Before I leave." Annabeth nodded. Beckendorf and Percy were supposed to go together to blow up Luke's ship, the Princess Andromeda. Percy was the obvious choice, him being the son of the Sea God, and Beckendorf was good at building things, or destroying them - whatever was the need of the hour.

Annabeth absent-mindedly picked up a small hammer and started playing with it. "You're sure about this mission?" she asked. She was nervous because there wasn't much planning to do besides going to the engine room and loading it up with explosives, and she hated the fact that Percy and Beckendorf would be on their own there, relying on their wits alone. Sure, Percy was used to thinking on his feet, but still, she couldn't help but worry about the two of them going straight into a boat filled with monsters. And Luke. What if they ran into him? He hated Percy. And she knew that Percy wouldn't back down, no matter how bad the odds were. What if he -

Beckendorf smiled reassuringly. "Hey, no biggie. We'll just sneak in and sneak out. And if anything goes wrong, we have aqua boy with us." Annabeth smiled back, but it wasn't enough to dispel her fears.

"In and out." She repeated.

"Can you tell Percy to come see me after dinner tonight? I just wanted to go over the ship's blueprints one more time." He asked abruptly.

Annabeth huffed. She didn't want to see Percy. Well, maybe she did - it was one of the few times he was at camp this summer, if he wasn't too busy with that mortal girl. Rachel. Why did he need to go see Rachel so urgently? If he needed a break so badly, why couldn't he hang out with her instead? Because he likes Rachel, not you, a voice inside of her echoed. She shook her head. A war was looming over their heads. This was no time to be thinking about which girl Percy liked. This is exactly the time, the voice began again. You won't even know if he'll survive. She cursed herself. Why did things have to be difficult?

"Or maybe not." Beckendorf said, wincing. "I'll just go and-"

Annabeth hadn't even realized she was scowling. "No, it's okay. I'll go and tell him."

"Sure, um, okay." Beckendorf said uncertainly.

"Good luck." She told him, and went to find Percy.

~~0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0~~

She found Percy sitting cross-legged on the beach, gazing at the ocean. She plopped down on the sand next to him. He didn't look startled. He gave her a small smile and said, "Wise girl."

"Seaweed Brain. What are you doing out here?" He turned towards the sea again. "Nothing. I come here to think, you know? What about you?"

"Well, Beckendorf asked me to tell you to meet him after dinner. He wants to go through the details of the mission again."

Percy grimaced, and Annabeth realized exactly why.

"You're not staying till dinner, are you?" Annabeth said icily.

Percy didn't react to her tone, which made her angrier. "I'll catch up with him later. I've got a copy of the blueprints, and I'll just take a look at them tomorrow."

"Do you even care about this mission? You're treating it all like a high school exam. Oh, I'll just study for it later." Annabeth didn't want to get into a fight with him again, but he wasn't making it easy. She'd come up to him to talk for a while, only to find out he'd leave again. Leave her for that mortal.

"Annabeth-"

"You'd rather be with that Rachel girl, drawing and painting and prancing around happily, while we're all here worried to death!" She stood up, glaring at him.

"I need to take a break!" He stood up as well, making her flinch. "Do you think I'm not worried enough, or working hard enough? I can't be at camp where everyone is pretending like it's my funeral! Oh, poor Percy, working so hard only to die at the end!"

Annabeth took a step back. She couldn't even think about him dying. She'd almost lost him last summer, and that had been hard enough. To lose him again would break her, no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She felt like slapping him. "You're not going to die! You don't say that! Do you have any idea how I- we-"

The look on Percy's face softened. He took a step towards her. "Annabeth, I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't mean it. It's just the stress of the war, the prophecy - I just need a break." He said, messing up his hair in frustration as if he couldn't find the words.

"What's wrong with taking a break with me?" Annabeth blurted out before she could stop herself.

Percy hesitated, like this was the first time he'd considered that this was a possibility. "It-It isn't the same." He managed.

The tears welled up again, waiting to burst out. But she wasn't going to give Percy that satisfaction. "I get it." She choked out. She wanted to run away from here. She wished Percy would just go, instead of rubbing it in her face about how she wasn't as good enough as Rachel.

Percy fidgeted nervously. "Annabeth, I know you don't like Rachel but-" She wanted to scream. How could he still be this clueless? I don't like seeing Rachel with you, she wanted to shout. But this time she kept her thoughts to herself.

"You've got nothing to worry about. I promise." He took a step closer. He was so close she could see his green eyes glinting in the sunset, turning a shade of green she'd never seen before.

"What do you mean?" She asked cautiously.

He got closer still and gently tucked a blonde curl behind her ear. Her heart started beating faster, and she resisted the urge to kiss him right there. He started leaning in, and the urge got stronger. Was this real?

"Annabeth, I-" He whispered, so close that she worried he would hear her heart bursting against her rib cage. She closed her eyes, and started leaning in, hardly believing this was happening.

The conch horn made them both jump back. The redness in his cheeks mirrored hers, and she silently groaned. "I-I think I'll go." He stuttered.

"Yeah, you're already pretty late." She regretted those words the moment they left her. She wanted to ask Percy if she'd understood him correctly. You don't need to worry, he'd said.

"Yeah, um, see you, I guess." He gave her that adorable smile of his and started towards the Big House.

"Percy?"

Percy turned around, a hopeful expression on his face. He raised his eyebrows.

"Good luck."

"Thanks, Wise Girl." He said, leaving Annabeth wondering if she was dreaming or not.