the archer - percy jackson x reader

ix.

chapter nine

you take my hand and drag me head first, fearless.

***
"Isn't that a kind of anteater?"

🝮

The teens spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.

They weren't attacked once, but that didn't mean they were able to relax. They were all on high alert especially Percy.

Percy and Y/n tried to keep a low profile because Percy's name and both their pictures were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. Mainly Percy but someone managed to take a picture of them both leaving the Greyhound bus and The Trenton Register-News published it captioned:

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. He is seen leaving the bus with a female companionship who police suspect is another missing child, all we know is that she has s/c skin h/c hair. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson and his companion fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with yet another two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"Don't worry," Annabeth told Percy. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure. And neither was Y/n.

They had a picture of her in the papers and although you couldn't clearly see her face, she could still run the risk of being recognized.

Percy spent the rest of the day pacing the length of the train because he couldn't sit still or looking out the window. Y/n sat down most of the time, trying to enjoy the scenery, or she would play the guessing game with Annabeth and continuously bite her nails until her skin felt raw.

Their reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. They couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so they dozed in their seats. Percy's neck got stiff, he was sitting next to Y/n and tried not to drool. After sometime his attempts turned futile when his head eventually collapsed on her shoulder and his mouth stayed open as if he was about to snore, but no he just drooled. Y/n slowly turned her head and looked down towards the sleeping boy with an annoyed expression plastered on her face. She sighed in defeat.

"Hey Annie, can you pass me a tissue," She asked motioning to the box on the table in between the four, blue, velvet seats that faced each other. Annabeth chuckled and threw her friend a tissue who gently put it under Percy's cheek. The tissue, however, did not stop Percy from talking in his sleep. Y/n made sure to write down the words he was muttering under his breath, planning to question him about them later.

Grover's snoring and bleating woke Percy up. He realized he was leaning his head on Y/n and quickly removed it, leaning it against the seat instead. She looked at him and laughed softly.

He turned to look at her, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

She laughed harder, "Yes, actually. Yes you do."

He brought his hand up to his face where he felt the weird material and yanked it off, realizing it was a tissue and the ends were wet— oh. "Sorry," he whispered to her.

"Yeah just had to make sure you wouldn't stain my shirt, drool boy."

"Yeah okay that nickname is pretty accurate." He leaned forward to press his elbows on his knees but forgot that there was a table and smashed his head on it. Y/n and Annabeth couldn't help but laugh.