Aquaman? Whoops, Wrong Universe: A Percy Jackson Marvel Crossover

Chapter 30: Annabeth

Annabeth watched the sword tip come down towards her with abject paralyzed horror. This was Percy. Percy, the boy who was unable to hurt anyone he remotely tolerated. Her Seaweed Brain was going to kill her. And what could she do to stop him?

Nothing.

She felt locked in place, unable to dodge or roll out of the way. Not because of the ache in her stomach, or the steady flow of blood from the cut on shoulder that was much deeper than she originally thought, or the overwhelming copper smell of blood, or the dirt and grime on her hands or—wow, she had almost forgotten how much she hated the smell and feel of battle—but because she couldn't process what was happening. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be happening.

These last few weeks, Annabeth had known that Percy was out there somewhere. She had known he was doing HYDRA's bidding. But now, face to face with him, everything in her body screamed in protest. It wasn't right. It couldn't be right. She had to be dreaming. Or suffering from hallucinations, or—

Shut up, Annabeth, she told herself. This is real. This is happening. Just... just like Luke.

Just like Luke. She had been betrayed once before, by someone she thought she knew better than herself. Her willpower had been ripped into tiny pieces when faced by the man who had done so much for her and then... snapped. 

But this wasn't like Luke. Luke did what he did of his own free will. In Percy's case, he was stripped of autonomy. Forced to do what others wanted. This wasn't a history-repeats-itself situation. She wouldn't let it be. She couldn't let it be. Annabeth could not go through this situation again without breaking apart like an old vase a child carelessly breaks while playing.

Her thoughts were chased away from her like insects fleeing from rain as Percy's sword tip stopped suddenly. The immediate cease of motion confused her, leaving her in stunned and shocked silence. She shook her head slightly, trying to figure out what was going on. Through her immobilization, she saw a lean arm covered in a red and blue fabric gripping Percy's hand with an iron fist.

Peter. Thank the gods.

"Uh, Annabeth?" Spider-Man asked, facing away from her and focused on using an above average amount of his strength to hold Percy off. "You might want to get out of the way."

This was... not right. Percy was a great fighter. Probably the strongest demigod alive. He had natural swordsmanship, and was definitely in shape. But Peter had super-strength. Percy did not. There should have been no way for Percy's arm to even be intact right now, if Annabeth had judged Spidey's abilities correctly (Okay, so she might've calculated the force of his arms from a YouTube video of him holding a car. It was incredibly impressive).

Unfortunately, before she could dissect this strange detail, she forced herself up and cleared her mind of everything except staying alive. She stumbled away, still clutching her wound, which was really starting to sting, and scooped up her knife as fluidly as she could.

She saw Peter still wrestling with Percy, his spider eyes narrowed, while Percy's face was set in a deep frown. Peter had the upper-hand, unsurprisingly, but Percy was putting up a good fight. She knew Peter was holding back. He had to be. If he wasn't, Percy would've been dead a while ago. Even though the kid made geeky jokes and still had a baby face, Peter could have probably won in a fight single-handedly against anyone on the battlefield. 

Annabeth thought back to how hard of a blow that punch to her stomach had been. She still felt the pain coursing through her organs. Something was wrong. She had been on the receiving end of many punches, but none as strong as this from other demigods. It was unnatural. But what could it mean? Her normally quick-as-lightning thoughts seemed to be failing her. Everything was just so undeniably wrong that Annabeth couldn't think about much else other than the fact her boyfriend was trying to kill her.