NEVER BE THE SAME . . . percy jackson

fifteen: the drakon.

BROOKLYN WAS, IN her core, an adrenaline junkie. That was a fact, as obvious as saying that she's the daughter of Zeus.

That was probably why she was grinning in the face of danger. Even if she probably would've died if not for Guido's fancy flying.

Brooklyn could hear Rachel screaming inside. For some reason, she hadn't fallen asleep, but Brooklyn could see the pilot slumped over the controls, pitching back and forth as the helicopter wobbled toward the side of an office building.

"Ideas?" Percy asked.

"You're going to have to take Guido and get out," Brooklyn said.

"What are you two going to do?"

In response, she said, "Hyah!" and Guido went into a nosedive.

"Duck!" Annabeth yelled.

They passed so close to the rotors Brooklyn felt the force of the blades ripping at her hair. They zipped along the side of the helicopter, and Annabeth grabbed the door, Brooklyn grabbing the side of the the helicopter and pulling herself up, precariously balancing on the small ledge the helicopter had.

That's when things went wrong.

Guido's wing slammed against the helicopter. He plummeted straight down with Percy on his back, leaving Annabeth dangling from the side of the aircraft.

"Holy shit," Brooklyn breathed out, hopping into the helicopter. "Rachel, get the pilot off of the controls!" she ordered as she reached out to pull Annabeth into the helicopter.

Annabeth flew for a second before she slammed into Brooklyn, sending them sprawling on the ground.

Brooklyn winced as her shoulder practically cried out in pain, but she pushed Annabeth off of her and got up, going to the controls.

She'd flown a helicopter before. After all, she's Brooklyn Hayward. But she'd always had someone with her to help her. Now? She just had Rachel, who didn't know how to fly one, and Annabeth, who she hoped knew a thing or two.

"Annabeth," Brooklyn gritted her teeth as she stared at the controls, righting the wrongs that the pilot had caused when his upper body had slammed on the controls. "Help me with this."

"You're the one who insisted to be in here and you don't know how to fly it?" Annabeth was next to her, though, staring at Brooklyn's work, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I semi-know how to fly a helicopter," she corrected, deciding that the controls were back to normal. "I need a spotter. You're Annabeth Chase, you have a lot of information in your head. Is part of that flying a helicopter?"

Annabeth was silent for a moment before saying, "hopefully. Now, hurry up, because we're going to crash."

They worked furiously at the controls. The building in front of them was getting closer . . . closer . . .

Then, Brooklyn smirked as she got it. She spun the helicopter in a circle and whooped.

"You did it," Rachel said from the back. She'd stayed silent as they worked, thank the gods.

"We did, didn't we?" Brooklyn offered a hand to Annabeth, the other letting the helicopter descend. "If you ever want to fly another helicopter, call me. We could go on a ride in the Hayward helicopter."

Annabeth stared at her hand before high fiving it. "I might just take you up on that offer, Hayward."

They landed the plane, Rachel dragging the pilot out as they killed the engine. Annabeth climbed out, helping Brooklyn out because of her injured shoulder.