Percabeth at Stark Tower

13. Peter

Annabeth's POV

After a peaceful morning of nothing but architecture I should have known the Fates would be throwing something at me soon.  But I didn't guess what would be messing up my life until I came into the kitchen where I'd left my lunch and found S-man there.  I flinch and grab the spider spray.  His head jerks up despite how quiet I was and he turns around.  "Wow!  How did you sneak up on me like that?" he asks, thankfully moving away from me.

"I wasn't trying to, but you're an arachnid!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything!"  but he doesn't understand.  Even if he does know about Arachne he'd think she was just a myth.  Besides if he did find out about her he'd probably be on her side, arachnids stick together.

"Why do you hate me so much?  What did I do?"

"It's more what you are."

"Well I can't change that, and you shouldn't hate me for existing!  I thought you were smart."

He sounds disgusted and not quite the same as last time.  I'm going to be working with him, so maybe I should try and explain myself.  "I'm going to call Percy, and then we can talk."

"Why do you want him here?" he asks, head cocked like a curious puppy.

"This is a...very distressing topic for me, having him here helps."

"Of course," he says.

We wait in silence for a few minutes before Percy shows up.  "What do you need?" he asks, walking over and pulling me into a hug, keeping his eyes on the arachnid the whole time.

"We're going to talk about the reason behind my...dislike of him.  I wanted you here for that conversation."

"Are you sure?"  looking into his eyes I can tell that if he thinks I'm too uncomfortable he wouldn't hesitate to drag me out if it's too much, but he's following my lead.

"Yes."

"So why do you hate me?" S-man says, getting right to the heart of the matter.

"When I was younger I had some...trouble with spiders.  They kept me up at night and my stepmom didn't believe they were real.  I ended up running away from home, partly because of that."

"Wow." he says, looking shocked.  It makes sense of course, that's how most mortals would react to something like that.

"Yeah.  Over the summer I ran into another s-spider and ended up getting trapped in a cave for a bit with Percy because of it.  I never liked them but it's gotten worse since then.  Rationally I know I shouldn't hate you, but all I can see is an arachnid when I look at you, not a person."

He hesitates, biting his lip but I give him space.  Whatever he's thinking about should be his decision, not mine.  "Do you...would it help if I wasn't wearing the outfit?"

Would it?  "Probably, but you don't have to make yourself uncomfortable, I'm sure we can work something out."

"I'm going to go change.  Just...don't tell anyone."

"Of course not.  But, why would you trust us with that, even if it's only a clue?"

"I knew Nico, and he trusts you.  It's a bit of a risk but I think it's worth it."

"Well, thank you for your trust." I say.  Once we're alone I turn to Percy, who's gaping like one of his precious fishes.  "What?"

"He just agreed to tell us who he is!"