When It Fades To Black: Percabeth AU

Fight

(All story line rights go to ChasingFreedoms)

Annabeth POV

We head to Gabes house because I know that my father knows that our house is probably surrounded by the police right now. I will not crIy. I will not show the pain. I will not scream. I will not. If I am to die, I will die in silence. I will die without giving them the satisfaction of knowing that they hurt me because they do not deserve to hurt me. They deserve nothing. 

I wish I have come to that conclusion earlier but I did not. But no more will I blame myself no more will I tell myself that this is my fault because it is not. I am a victim but I will not act like one. I will act like the strong person I have become. The one that the ones I love and the ones who love me taught me to be. I will be strong. 

And maybe, just maybe, if the time becomes right or the opportunity is given, this time I will fight.

My father Parks around back of the huge house. The Mafia pays well in NYC. I sigh, knowing what to expect. I also know Gabe has security on the property boundaries, so now is not the time to run. My father jerks me out of the back of the van and smiles snugly at me. 

Wordlessly, he shoves me into Gabe's basement. No, it was not dark and dank, but well furnished and cheery. There was a trap room for Gabe's unsavory Mafia business but I was taken into the guest bedroom. He follows in after me trying to hand my father a fifty, but he declines and says, "Consider it repayment for letting me stay here. And do tell me when you're finished. I'm going to get revenge for those days I spent in a prison cell..."

Gabe just grins after him, then turns to me. He says, "Get on your knees." 

I almost do what he says, but decide to show him I will not go quietly. "No. I'm done with you and your games." He growls and starts hitting me.

He doesn't stop for a long time.

Time Lapse

I'm a bloody, broken mess. I'm in a lot of pain. Gabe spent an hour beating me for my defiance, and my father spent even longer, saying I had offended our host. He finally left. I have wounds in so many places, I can't count them all.

And yet, I feel victorious. In Gabe's anger, he did not remember to do what he came to do. For the first time, I'd fought. To hell with that, I'd won. I haven't felt like this in ages. I was proud. 

Not, of course, that in the long run it would help much. I wasn't stupid: the same plan would not work twice. But I cared little for that. Screw the long run. Momentary victories would keep me alive until Thalia, Luke, and Percy came to rescue me.

They'd come. They loved me.

Luke POV 

I hate Annabeth Chase. I was going to throttle her when I saw her.

 She had to be selfless, after everything she'd been through, she thought she had to be selfless. She had the right to give up, to ignore the world and think of herself. But she wouldn't. She had a right to be selfish that most people would die for, and she wouldn't be. 

Gods, I loved her. And I hated her. Mostly, I was so so proud of her. An older brother looking on his sisters actions and smiling. 

I didn't realize I was crying until Thal handed me a tissue and said, "We'll find her Luke. We'll put him behind bars for life." I smiled at that and thought, That's right. We're coming Frederick. And this time, you won't be released. You had such a great blessing, and you threw her away. No mercy will be shown to you. 

Percy POV 

I was at home, full of rage, because Luke had told me that I couldn't help her, except by being safe. My mom and Paul we're due back any minute and I had no idea how I would explain how complicated my life had gotten in the two weeks they'd been on a business trip. 

I'd not told them about Annabeth before they'd left because she didn't want her story told. But the day mom and Paul had left, Annabeth had jumped off a bridge. Then she'd gone into a coma, woken up, and was kidnapped.

I was probably going to act like a frustrated asshole, and I thought they at least deserved to know why their son was such a pain in the ass all of a sudden.

I waited on the couch until they came home, and when the finally walked in they took one look at my face and my broken posture and exchanged a quick look. Then they sat on either side of me, and asked in tandem, "What's wrong?"

All of a sudden, I couldn't talk. I burst into sobs. 

Because when your whole world has been turned topsy turvy, where do you even begin to start?