PJO #4 : The Battle of the Labyrinth - MISSING SCENES

Bad Dreams? (Mid-Chapter 8)

He had no idea how long it had actually been, but what felt like 2 hours later, Percy heard panicked yet tired sounds coming from the girl sleeping next to him.

He frowned as he looked down at where she was. It was dark, but he could see that she had a scared expression on her face and he felt his heart break a little bit at that. She had gone through so much in her life (they all had) and he wished he could just make it all go away. Alas, he lacked that ability, but he still reached over to her and gently shook her.

"Annabeth, wake up. You're having a nightmare" he said, gentle but loud enough for it to get through to her. It took a few moments but she soon shot up, awake and hyperventilating. "Hey hey hey" Percy said gently. "It's okay. You're okay"

"Percy?" she asked, internally kicking herself for how afraid she sounded. "Yeah, it's me" the other demigod confirmed with a small smile. "Just me. Are you okay?"

"I uh..." the girl swallowed, trying to calm herself down to avoid making more of a fool of herself. "Yeah, sorry. I think my brain was just punishing me for resting" she chuckled awkwardly. Percy frowned as she sat up. The silver streak in her hair stood out in the darkness, and he presumed his own did as well. "Bad dreams?"

"You could say that" Annabeth replied with a shrug as she stretched and cracked her joints back into awakeness. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Percy asked gently. The girl shook her head.

"No, but thanks" she replied with a small, slightly forced smile. "Is it my turn to keep watch?" she asked, desperate to get the conversation away from her panicked state. Percy understood this and didn't ask about it further. "Yeah" he confirmed. She nodded and watched as Percy lied down on his own bedroll.

"Percy?" she asked him once he settled. "Yeah?" he asked back. "...Thank you"

"Of course"