Artemis {ON HOLD}

Chapter 9

Annabeth POV

I rub Claire's back in a soothing, circular motion as she cries. It shocks me to see her cry. She is always so brooding and evasive.  The only emotions I see from her are anger, disgust, hatred, and rarely amusement. But never this. I suppose it is partly my fault for not knocking, but I wasn't really thinking about it. I enjoy being with other people and being optimistic about everything. I rarely get angry or pessimistic. Claire is my polar opposite. She is narcissistic, always lashing out, and hates company. And she never cries. So seeing her like this leaves me at a loss. I know how to comfort all of my other teammates, even Artemis I've learned that if she needs to be comforted, get Tyler. She seems to have bonded with him the most. But Claire, I don't know what to do.

"What's wrong?" I ask softly. She shakes her head as a response. "It's alright. You don't have to tell me." I sooth.

She cries for a few minutes more before finally composing herself. "Tell anyone about this and I. Will. Kill. You." She warns, her voice threatening yet still a bit shaky from crying.

I shake my head. "Of course. I fully respect your privacy. I should've knocked. " I admit.

Claire glares. " No shit. "

"I think Artemis's speech patterns are rubbing off on you." I notice. To my surprise, that makes her laugh. A cold, humorless laugh, but nonetheless, a laugh. I wonder what is going on in her mind. I wonder why she was crying,  and why she found my statement funny. Claire is utterly confusing at times.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm always here." I offer.

Claire sighs. "I wish i could talk about it with someone, but its not that simple." She admits. She sighs again, rubbing her eyes. "Things are never simple with her." Claire mutters, mostly to herself.

I frown with confusion. Who is her? I inwardly groan. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. If yu need to get this off your chest, I'll mbe willing to listen."

She considers the offer. I watch her facial expression change slightly as she mentally debates her response.

"If  I tell you, you can't tell anyone.  Not Caleman, not Tyler, not Josh, and especially not Artemis." She orders.

I nod. "Of course. This stays between us."

She takes a deep breath. "I... know who Artemis is." She says hesitantly.

"What do you- oh. Oh. Really?" I ask, wde eyes. My mind is racing. How? Why? Who? You have to tell her! She-"

" No!" Claire interrupts, her voice urgent. "It's not that simple."

"Well than explain it." I mean to sound nice and welcoming, but my voice is urgent and a bit harsh.

Claire sighs. "Well her real name is Amelia. Amelia Ryder.  She's an assassin for the CIA. She went missing two months ago, and then she randomly showed up here. Everyone thought that she died in an explosion at one of her jobs, two months ago. But clearly she didn't."

My mind tries to process the information. Some things make sense now, but other things don't. "How do I know that you're not just making this up?" I ask, because it all seems so farfetched. Claire has only been on the team for less than two months, I have nomidea of she's trustworthy.