Alternatively

Three Thousand Miles

Snores peppered the harmonious deep breathing in the back seats. The static of a fading radio station lowly hummed along to the drone of the car speeding steadily down Route 50. Orange blocks of light flashed by Percy's face as they passed a rest area and he stole a glance at his navigator. Her legs stretched up on the dash and her eyes dove into the dark night, not quite searching. 

"Pass this guy," she murmured.

He smiled to himself, quietly flicking on the blinker and going around the motorcyclist who had been puttering ten miles under the speed limit.

Annabeth shifted to watch Percy, reaching for his free hand. "You tired yet?"

Someone stirred briefly in their restless sleep before settling back down. "Nah, I'm okay."

"Whenever you want, I can drive."

"Yeah, you're real good at it," he drawled, tossing a grin her way at her bristling expression. "No, really, I'm okay."

She nodded, nestling into her seat.

It was around three and even Leo had dozed off, leaving a sleepy silence to fill the midsized mini van. The road trip started out as many like it did: yelling, projectiles of unknown origin, monsters at the rest area bathrooms, threats to "turn this car around". There had been multiple drivers, rotating out at gas stations or whenever someone needed to pee, and everyone except Piper had nearly caused a crash.

He flexed his fingers around the wheel, looking out over the dark road. The quiet Kansas highway was nearly empty and it was just him and his navigator. Her hair gleamed dully in the soft lights on the dash and he couldn't help but squeeze her hand, noting how cold her fingers were but how warm her palm was.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothin' in particular," he said quietly.

Her thumb rubbed a slow, small circle on the back of his hand. "Nothin'?"

He spared her a side eye, to which she merely quirked a brow. "I guess...I'm thinking about Jason's driving. Wasn't very good."

"That's an understatement," she snorted. "There are probably tire marks all through Kentucky because of him."

"I told you Hazel should have taken over."

"And repeat what happened in West Virginia?"

"It was only a Cracker Barrel parking lot," he rolled his eyes. "Besides, it's not like she did anything you haven't."

Annabeth huffed, scratching him with her thumbnail. "I do everything on purpose, I know what I'm doing."

"Sometimes, I'd prefer her driving to yours, and she was born in a time cars still had carriage wheels."

"I'll tell her to take the lunch shift, then."

His stomach did a little flip, but he replied with a snarky, "Fine."

Her nose scrunched and she raised her chin challengingly. "Fine."

Usually, their staring contests could last an incredibly long time, but he figured he'd drive them off the road if he wasn't the bigger person. He swerved slightly to avoid a pothole in his lane, glancing back to be sure it hadn't woken anyone up. Annabeth went back to staring out the window, recrossing her legs on the dash.

"What are you thinking about?"

"M'not sure," she replied. "It's weird."

"Weird," he snorted.

"Yeah..."

He let it be, looking briefly at the moon as it shimmered through the trees. Full, bright. It cast a silver glow on the passengers in the back, glinting off Jason's glasses as he slumped against the window and catching in the drool at the corner of Frank's mouth as he leaned on Piper. Someone's phone lit up, glowing blue in it's cupholder for a second before returning the back to darkness and blocks of silver.