Life As I Know It

Chapter Twelve

Huffing and puffing from the long journey through the bustling jungle of New York City, Annabeth and Percy tried their best not to limp wearily to the entrance of a clean, pristine building. Even though it didn't have a big, fancy sign indicating it was the FBI Bureau, you could as well see that it was.

You could see men and women walking through the glass framed door and in clean cut clothes, a gun concealed in each of their jackets. Their hair neat combed and a large noticeable badge clipped onto the front of their jeans.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, the pair furiously ran their hands through their hair, sweeping it and combing it as neat as they can. As they approached cautiously, the sleepy receptionist glanced wearily at them, as if they were from the streets. Well….You couldn't blame her, their clothes were torn, the hems of their shirt were soaked in dried, sticky blood, and their hairs, other wised, messed up.

"Can I help you?" The woman answered shortly in an uninterested tone. Annabeth leaned down, her eyes wide as she opened her dried lips to speak. "Katie?" She asked hoarsely. The woman looked up with large eyes, her mouth hung open.

"A-Annabeth? I-I barely recognized you! B-But they said you were dead!"

"Dead? Why would they say that?"

Katie looked up with worried eyes, her pupils slightly dilated as she spoke in soft monotone. "They said you were off the grid for about a week or two, so they assumed you became a rogue agent. But Johnson said that you were too in love with this job, that you wouldn't do that. So they pronounced you dead." She answered snippily, leaning back and nervously pulling her jacket.

"I-Is Johnson still up in his office?" Annabeth asked hopefully. Katie nodded, her plump, red lips, grinning like a Cheshire cat. She swept away her auburn hair as she pressed a dark blue button on the intercom next to her.

"Johnson, someone very important to you is here. You might want to see them." The intercom buzzed for a second before a gruff reply spluttered out. Katie looked up, nodding her as she jerked her thumb towards the elevator.

Quickly, Annabeth and Percy thanked her before briskly walking towards the elevator. As they got in, Percy subconsciously twiddled his thumbs nervously as he felt his palms soak with sweat. He tried to prevent from sweating profusely but he couldn't. He was damn nervous. It's been years that he's back in the Bureau.

Annabeth glanced worriedly at him, her lips into a tight frown. "You alright?" She asked, placing her hands onto his back and rubbing them soothingly in small circular motions. With his throat all dried up and parched, he answered back hoarsely, his heartbeat increasing by a matter of moments. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine." He brushed off casually.

She gave him a sharp glare, unconvinced that he was 'Fine'. As he shifted from one leg to another, while casually looking around, purposely ignoring the cold stares coming from Annabeth, he kept on thinking what would happen if his old partners saw him again.

"Percy? Percy? Percy!"

Unaware that Annabeth was calling him, he continued imagining every possible scenario that would occur.

"Percy?" She called one last time, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. But he wandered mindlessly about his thoughts, completely drowned in it. Annoyed, she threw her hands up and huffed loudly, exhaustion taking over her.

Suddenly, in a fast paced motion, the elevator jerked forward, sending Percy and Annabeth tumbling down wildly. The overhead fluorescent lights blinked wildly, like insane strobe lights flickering around a club. The elevator screeched loudly as they fell down a few stories, but it stopped quickly as it came.

"Annabeth, you okay?" He asked, his vision slightly blurry. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She answered, slightly shaken up.

He stood up carelessly, his balance completely off. He brushed his hands across his chest and dusted off his jeans, while shaking his head from left to right, he tried to shake away all the tiny bits of glass that broke from the mirror behind him.

Extending his hand, he pulled up Annabeth in a swift scoop, making her stand up just as quick as he did. As Percy tried to pry open the door, Annabeth pressed the intercom button. There was a loud short beep before a loud, obnoxious voice blared out of the speaker.

"Hello? This better not be a prank." The voice answered uninterestedly. Annabeth rolled her eyes, wondering to God why it had to be that person. Reluctantly she called out the name that she never wanted to say.

"…Joey… This is Annabeth. I'm stuck in an elevator. Think you could get us out quickly?" She asked in a quick breath. "Annabeth?" Instantly, his voice perked up. "Haven't seen you in a long time! How are you? You still single? If you are, I was wondering if..maybe…you know… would like to have dinner with me…? Unless you don't want to, then I completely understand." He ranted unconfidently in a nervous voice.

Percy looked over to an annoyed Annabeth, an amused smile resting atop his lips. "Oh, you're just enjoying this, aren't you?" She answered back to Percy in a snap, irritated. "A little bit." He laughed, bringing his forefinger and thumb up, as if he was indicating the amount.

While Joey continued his rant, Annabeth chuckled softly as she rolled her eyes.

"Joey. Send. Help. Now." She replied sharply and sternly. "Of course!" He shouted, embarrassment evident in his voice. She pulled her finger away from the receiver as it beeped loudly. An awkward silence filled the room as soft chuckled erupted around, try their best to make it seem less awkward.

"So…. I'm assuming by his voice, this 'Joey'" Percy spoke up, as he made air quotes around Joey's name. "… has a crush on you, right?" He asked bemusedly. Annabeth shook her head, an irritated expression that seemed to spread across her face, but she cracked a small smile.

"Annabeth?" Joey's voice crackled aloud. Their gaze focused onto the receiver as Annabeth strode over and jammed her thumb into the button. "Yes?" She asked formally.

"Uh… Help's on the way. They should be there in twenty minutes. While you're waiting, maybe you would like to some music?" He asked. "Sure." She smiled. A soft, pulsing beat wove through the room as Percy impatiently tapped his foot as he folded his arms.

"So… What's your family like?" He asked her, genuinely interested about her life. She looked at him, slightly shocked, but she answered in a heartbeat, not even deciding whether to tell him or not. "Well, my mother left me when I was 3. My dad's a doctor and I have two brothers named Matthew and Bobby."

"You ok with your mom leaving you?" He asked solictously, his eyebrows knitted tightly together. She nodded her head vigorously, as she leaned nearer to him, placing her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, I've ..learned to come to terms with it." She smiled, intertwining her fingers into his. He smiled, as he combed his fingers through her hair.

"What about your family?" She asked, absentmindedly playing with his fingers. "My dad was lost at sea when I was pretty young." He answered back. "So, how did your mom cope?" She asked sincerely. "Well…" He shrugged casually. As he continued, a loud creak interrupted momentarily. They looked up to the small door above them, and saw that it hung ajar as a brown envelope dropped below at their feet.

As Annabeth kneeled down and gently picked up the envelope, Percy gazed upward to the small opened door above, curiously straining his neck to see anything that his eyes could in the pitch of the darkness.

"Percy. You'd better come and look at this." Annabeth called, her voice strained. He nodded, side stepping over, but not taking his eyes off of the door. "What is it?" He blindly asked. Annoyed, she slapped his shoulder lightly to pull his attention away from the door.

"Look." She pointed. There were about twenty photos in the file, showing different places that Annabeth and Percy went, as if someone was observing them the whole way. There were even pictures of them on their date!

They both curiously shifted through those photos, carefully scanning out everything. As they flipped through, few pieces of paper fell out, scattering across the floor. Percy bent down and picked it up, slowly reading it through.

"Hey, look." He leaned back, pointing at a sentence written down there. She leaned over to look, and her eyes widened slightly. There was a small sticky note pasted there, like it was a reminder to someone. They mouths hung open in shock as their eyes wandered around.

Suddenly, a loud screech came from the elevator door. Quickly stuffing the papers and pictures in, Annabeth slid the file into the envelope and handed it to Percy. The door widened slightly and they could see figures surrounding the door. It started to pan out quickly and soon, bright lights flooded the room as a tall man in a fireman jacket pulled them out quickly.

They squeezed through, before the door closed again. There were small claps and cheers as Annabeth and Percy thanked the fireman. He nodded gruffly, giving them a small smile. They nodded and headed for the floor above.

Percy threw the door open, and hurriedly, they ascended the stairs. "I think the stop at the elevator was not an accident. Someone planned this. And at the perfect time. They knew we would come here." Annabeth said firmly, panning out everything they saw in the files.

Percy nodded in agreement as he pushed open the door leading out of the stairwell. "We need to find out who, and fast. Before anything goes wrong." He replied, as they briskly walked through FBI office. They passed through many tables overflowing with stacks of reports, plans or rumors that someone "

"I agree. Maybe Johnson could help." She answered back. She knocked against the glass door, as a well built dark haired man looked up. He smiled at her, cocking his head to the side to gesture her to come in. In his hand, he held an office phone receiver as loud barks came from his superiors upstairs.

He had brown unkempt hair, a strong jaw line and was quite handsome. His tie was loosely pulled off, his long sleeve shirt sloppily rolled up. "Yes, sir. I understand sir. Yes, I will get to the bottom of this." He answered irritably, speaking calming into the phone. He finished the call and slams the receiver into the holder lightly.

With a heavy sigh, he slinked down onto his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose in consternation. But very quickly, he gathered himself together and placed his hands on top of his table, facing Percy and Annabeth.

"I-I can't believe you're alive Annabeth. After you didn't answer my calls…I assumed you were dead." He smiled in relief, placing his hand onto his forehead. That's when he realized Percy was sitting there, all battered up and bruised.

"What happened?" He asked in confusion, gesturing at Percy. Annabeth smiled weakly, shaking her head. "It's a long story. But I think you'll be more interested about what I'm about to tell you."

He grinned, showing his pearly white teeth. "Isn't what you always say?" He grinned cheekily, as she laughed. "Tell away." He shrugged. She looked around, unsure if they were any bugs placed in his office. "Maybe we could talk about this over coffee?" She asked hopefully, paranoia seeping into her.

He stared at curiously and confused but, standing up and grabbing his jacket. "I know this great coffee house near the office." He suggested as he slipped on his jacket.

Oook. It's been super long since I've updated. I think it's about three months? Wow. So sorry for every bit of delay the past few months. I still haven't finished writing my book yet, *ahem*(writer's block.)But I will try to update here more often.

Anyways, I'm thinking of starting my own blog soon, putting up my own stories there. When I get one up, I'll send you all the link. Also, I've been thinking of writing a romance novel, just a romance novel for my new fanfiction here. No action or anything, but I can't get any ideas. Maybe you guys could give me some suggestions?

Hope you liked how this chapter went, please review. And thanks for all the reviews. I really do appreciate it. Send me all your ideas either in PM or reviews. I'm cool with any. Bye!