Percy Jackson One-shots

Percy's Detour In the Labyrinth (Percy/Ethan)

Author Notes: Apollo, god of music, of medicine, and divine ruler of the muses has informed me that he discovered this missing scene from The Battle of the Labyrinth while listening to Uncle Rick's dream broadcast. He feels it is a pity that it wasn't shared with those who may appreciate it. And so I wrote it down exactly as it was told to me. - Mab

XxxX

The sound of a soft footfall woke me. I had Riptide uncapped and drawn in an instant. I stood, looking up the Labyrinth tunnel, then at Rachel curled on her side, breathing soft and regularly. Annabeth rested her head on her knees, her back to the wall, also asleep. I didn't want to wake them unless I had to; they needed rest as much as I did. 

I made my way as silently as possible back up the tunnel by the light of my sword. I didn't dare step far from sight of my friends, not with the Labyrinth's habit of altering itself without notice. At the curve of the tunnel, a pale face shone in Riptide's low light. It was Ethan Nakamura. 

We studied each other from a yard's length, neither daring to speak first, to show weakness. I saw a trace of feeling alight in his visible eye, a sort of grudging respect. 

He made the first move, holding his hands up with his palms facing me, showing me he was not here to fight. I lowered my sword, but didn't cap it, not only because it was the only light source I had on hand. Then he gestured for me to come closer. 

I turned back to make sure the girls were still sleeping and out of harm's way, and then followed him just around the curve of the tunnel. 

"Percy Jackson," he murmured. His voice was soft and unthreatening. 

"Did you change your mind about coming with us?" I asked. I couldn't help but hold onto the hope that he had, if only to prevent another demigod from joining Luke's army. I took another step closer until we were only a foot apart. 

He considered me, his eye flicking between mine, as if to measure my sincerity, and then dropped his gaze. 

My eyes followed his, checking that his hands were still free from weapons; they were. Then our eyes met again. The air seemed to grow heavier all of a sudden or maybe it was all in my head. 

"How do I know I can trust you, Percy Jackson? For all I know, you will lead me back to camp and hand me over to Chiron and he will keep me on dish duty, a prisoner under the watch of the cleaning harpies."

"You can trust me. I'll give you my word." He raised his eyebrows, his eye-patch lifting a fraction along with them. A flash from an old pirate musical I had watched with my mom once flashed through my mind and I fought the smile forming on my lips. Instead, I cast about for another way to convince him I was trustworthy. "How can I prove it to you?"

He grabbed my hand in the dark and I thought he intended that we make a pact. We did, though not in any way I would have guessed. I waited for him to let go, reminding myself I defeated him at combat once already; he didn’t scare me. We didn't break eye contact and I allowed him to guide my hand, finally stepping even closer to him as if to hear him whisper in my ear. And then I felt something hard in the pocket of his pants. Was he trying to tell me a secret without words?

I gripped the object and squeezed, my face flooding with heat when his eye rolled up, his eyelid closing, and his breath huffed warmly on my face. I realized what he wanted too late. If I pulled back now, he'd run off and join Luke. He'd accuse me of judging him or lying about wanting him to come with us. Worse still, my body seemed to have a mind of its own, apart from my consciousness as my pants became tight and I didn't stop moving my hand. 

I told myself it wouldn't hurt to just do this and get it over with, then he'd come back with us and we'd never tell a living soul. It was a pact, I thought, a bro pact, something the girls wouldn't understand and when he slipped his hand into my jeans, the other pulling my fly open – and I did the same to him, setting Riptide on the floor at our feet, lighting us in a personal glow – I felt like we were speaking the same language, that we had arrived at an agreement. The rest, well, it felt really good and as we are taught in camp, you repay favors with sacrifices. 

He twisted his hand just right and I dropped my head, resting my forehead on his shoulder, watching it happen, torn between wanting it to end and to stay in this moment forever. He moved his free hand to my butt, pulling me closer until our hands joined in the middle and the last moments were a team effort. I bucked against him, my soul felt ready to leave my body as his breaths came more erratic and the smell of secrets rose between us. I raked my free hand down his back, grabbing his butt, too, pulling us harder together and he did the same. I nearly blacked out when he dug in tight with his fingers and my pleasure crested along with his. We made our mutual tribute, the payment coating our hands. 

Afterwards we were quiet. We fixed our clothing and stood side by side, our backs to the wall, catching our breaths. 

"Thank you, Percy," he said, and nodded at me, pushing off the wall as if he were about to take his leave. 

"Wait. I thought you were coming with us. We could use a fighter like you, and uh … your skills." My face blazed as I spoke and I couldn't understand why. 

He smirked and stepped in front of me, leaning in until our faces almost touched. I held my breath, staring into his eye and trying to tell him without words that I meant what I said. 

He brushed our noses together and whispered: "Boo." 

I blinked, not understanding, and in the next moment he was gone like a ghost. 

I retrieved my sword and made my way back to where Annabeth and Rachel still slept. I resolved not to fall asleep again myself and to never break the pact and speak of what happened just in case, one day, it would make a difference. 

As far as not falling asleep again, I failed.