Percabeth One-shots (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Apocalyptic Love pt. 15

Word Count: 880+

ANNABETH CHASE

"Because we've got a cure."

Percy's breathing hitches.
"You have a cure?" He asks in disbelief.
"Yep." Luke answers smugly.
I scrunch my forehead in thought.

"That still doesn't explain how the heck you're alive."

Luke raises an eyebrow at me and smirks.
"Oh Annie. I thought you were smart. I took the cure before I got bitten. I had been taking it for a while. Even before you met me."

"It was in the blue bottle." I state, remembering how each morning he would take a sip of something from a blue bottle, before going back to his plastic ones.
Whenever I questioned him about it, he would completely evade my question.

"Seems you still have a brain then."

"Why'd you keep it from me?" I ask suddenly.
"....because I hardly knew you. You think I'm going to just reveal that I have a cure to someone I knew for a week?"
I watch as he scratches behind his ear.

That's the movement I needed.

I look back to his eyes, blanking my expression.

"I need to talk to Percy in private. Please close the door on your way out." I say abruptly, shocking Luke and Percy.
"Uhh..okay." Luke gets up awkwardly. He shoots me a skeptical look before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
As soon as he leaves, I slump backwards, holding my wound.
"You alright?" Percy asks me, leaning over me.
"Just wait." I say, listening carefully for any noises coming from outside the room.

I get up and walk towards the door. I open it quickly, sending it crashing towards the wall beside it. I look left and right. Checking for anyone who could possibly be listening.
Satisfied that no one is around, I close the door again walking back to Percy.
"Luke is lying. There is no cure." I say immediately.
Percy blinks at me.
"How..how do you know?"
"He scratched behind his ear." I answer too quickly.
Percy raises his eyebrows in question.

"I know how to read people. I can tell when he's lying. Everyone does something. Luke scratches behind his ear, Thalia looks away, Leo clears his throat, Grover scratches his nose and you scratch the back of your neck."
"You're really..observant."
I scoff.
"Yeah well, it's one of the only ways you can survive nowadays. You never know when someone is trying to use you to just benefit their own survival."

"So if Luke doesn't have a cure...how is he alive?"

I open my mouth to answer but my mind goes blank.
"I don't know. But I do know that my father was researching into a hypothetical anti-ageing serum...and I'm thinking that maybe some of the chemicals compounded together from that serum could maybe...reverse the changing somehow. But obviously not forever."

"So you think Luke somehow had some serum that can prolong the effects of the turning?" Percy asks.

I mentally applaud him. Not many people can keep up with my thinking.

"Yes. And I want to know how he made it...and what the side effects are. Something tells me that very soon many people are going to be taking this concoction, and I want to know possible ways to enhance it...so it's not just prolonged. But an actual cure."

I look away an sigh.

"I guess what I want to do is go back to my old house, and get my father's notes. I want to make a cure for the world before someone else I love changes. Before Luke gives everyone a fake cure that could do more harm than good. I mean, what happens when you run out of the serum?"

Percy nods in understanding.

"I'll come with you, obviously, but we need others as well. Before Luke corrupts everyone, we need to recruit people to follow us back to your old place. But we need to know all of them...so we're sure they aren't spies for Luke."

I nod slowly.

"Why does Luke want to give people the fake cure anyway?" Percy asks.

"Maybe he just wants to feel acknowledged by everyone. He was neglected when he was younger, so it's probably some crazy power-seeking thing. He wants people to think he saved the world."

"Idiot will be causing more harm than good. It'll be false hope that will get people killed. People will think that they're immune so they'll do stupid stir-of-the-moment stunts." Says Percy.

"Neither of us can deny that we haven't also taken part in stir-of-the-moment stunts. But you're right. We got lucky. Others won't."
"Yeaaaah...jumping out of a tree was one of those moments." Percy moves beside me.

"So how are you? Really?"

I open my mouth to answer, but he cuts me off.
"And I don't want some lie about you being perfectly fine. You got shot for goodness sake and- hang on. Who shot you?"
Percy jumps up off the bed and marches towards the door.

"If it's Luke, he's going to rue the day he was born. That asshole. No one shoots my girl!" He opens the door and storms down the hallway after Luke.

I smirk and lie back down on his bed.
My heart flutters.

My girl.