The Gunfire

Percy POV

"Wise Girl, what the hell are you doing?" I asked in frustration.

"I'm coming with you, Seaweed Brain. Whatever you're going to do right now, it's obviously dangerous, and you cannot go alone," she said calmly but with a hint of annoyance.

"NO, No, no," I exclaimed. "Get out now."

"Not happening, Seaweed Brain. It's either we waste time arguing or you get going."

I swore in anger as my hands slapped the steering wheel. Annabeth was so stubborn. Couldn't she understand that this would most likely be very dangerous? I didn't want to take her into a den of monsters (ie Atlas and his thugs).

"Fine," I shouted as I drove out of the parking lot.

Calypso wasn't too far away. Apparently, her father and his associates found her at the hotel that the police put her in. Now, Calypso was on the run and currently hiding at a construction site. It was horrible to imagine the beautiful, caramel-haired girl crouched behind a concrete wall while crying out of fear.

"Annabeth, you're so stubborn," I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I've been told that before," she shouted back at me.

My hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly as I drove. The location that Calypso mentioned wasn't too far away. Hopefully, the police would get there quickly so that we'd be safe.

"Percy, where are we going? Who is Calypso?"

"Wise Girl, I literally cannot think right now, okay. Can you just- Ugh, how could you be believing Luke over me?" I asked again. Literally, our entire argument was screwing with my brain. For some unknown reason, it hurt so much that Annabeth wasn't believing me.

"Seaweed Brain, despite everything, you're still on that."

"Yes, I am," I snapped.

"Alright fine, Percy, tell me this: what happened to your hands earlier this week?" she asked boldly. We were both pretty much screaming our words.

"Oh my god, Annabeth, fine! I was upset, okay, and I ended up punching and kicking the walls of my trailer out of frustration. Is that enough for you or do you want my mom's phone number so you can double-check my 'apparently' lying ass?"

"Wait, your hands got injured because you punched a wall?"

"Yeah, I know it's a bad habit. I was just upset Sunday because some stuff happened."

She paused, but I could feel her intense gaze burning into me. Annabeth nodded before turning back to the road. "I believe you," she murmured.

"What?! After all that, now, you believe me," I snapped in disbelief.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. That bastard, Luke, made it really convincing that you did something. If you want, just go ask Thalia."

My voice softened as my gaze flitted towards Annabeth. "Wise Girl, if Luke got injured, it wasn't because of me. He's only trying to frame me as a bad guy for obvious reasons (you being one of them)."

Annabeth looked at me as her hand reached forward and touched my arm. Despite the intense situation, I felt warmth and comfort flood my system as she slowly rubbed the length of my arm. Her eyes gleamed to the moonlight shining through the window.

Damn, Wise Girl was beautiful and intelligent and incredibly strong.

I'm pretty sure that I could've stayed there (staring at her) for eternity, but the situation crashed our moment.

She finally started talking, "Percy, what is going on?"

"Someone I know is in danger, Annabeth. She doesn't go to our school, but she has an abusive father who escaped from prison. Atlas is a bad criminal, and he's going after her now because she's the reason that he was sent to jail," I explained as quickly as possible.

Annabeth easily and quickly digested all the information. She quickly pulled out her phone and called the police. I hadn't even thought of calling the police on Calypso's behalf.

As I quickly drove through the dark streets, I couldn't shake the bad feeling in my gut.

***

We parked one block away from the construction site that Calypso mentioned. This was a bad idea. The whole neighborhood seemed too quiet, which put me and Annabeth on edge.

"Alright, Annabeth, you stay in the car. I'll find Calypso and bring her."

"That is a stupid plan, Seaweed Brain," she said harshly.

"No, it's not," I bantered back.

"Yes, it is. We go in together, which will double to visual. We can look out in all directions. Plus, we're more likely to find your friend that way."

She had a point (several actually). Annabeth was too smart to dismiss, but I didn't want to put her in any danger. It was bad enough that she was here.

"We're doing this," she said firmly before stepping out of the car.

"Wait, Annabeth." I quickly got out of the car and caught up to her. We quickly and quietly snuck into the construction site. The police hadn't shown up yet for some reason. There piles of concrete, stones, and wood laid throughout the site. There were a lot of places where people could hide and a lot of places where people could attack from.

As we started to run from the dumpster we were hiding behind, the lights flashed brightly. Annabeth and I froze as med surrounded us at a distance. A few of them held guns.

"I knew my damn daughter would call you," a voice boomed. I stared with hatred at the man coming forward.

Another armed thug came to our left (about 15 yards away) clasping a girl.

Calypso looked similar to the last time I saw her. Of course, the last time I saw her was during a time when I was in so much pain. I had just gotten diagnosed with osteosarcoma, and I really needed her. However, Calypso had hurt me instead--after everything I had done for her.

I turned towards Atlas once again.

"Let her go, Atlas."

He laughed cruelly. "Boy, the reason she isn't already being punished is that I needed her to bring you here. You're also someone to blame for my jail time."

"You're a criminal. You got what you deserved," I said boldly.

"Oh, I see you have a new girlfriend now. I guess you left my daughter, which gives me another reason to destroy you." His gaze fell on Annabeth harshly.

I instinctually backed up and grabbed Annabeth's hand. While I was in a helpless situation, I at least wanted to tell her it was okay with my touch. Wise Girl didn't pull away.

Atlas laughed again before starting a menacing dialogue about all the things he would do to us. I felt myself growing angrier with every sentence. He would not hurt Annabeth.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered. She remained quiet as to not alarm Atlas from his distracting rant, which was working in our favor.

"What?" I whispered back.

Our hands were still connected, so we were very close to each other.

"We should just run to the left. I can grab Calypso while you punch the guard. Then, we run. It's a risky plan, but it's the only option besides falling to Atlas's revenge."

"Annabeth, it's too dangerous," I said softly as my grip tightened on her hand.

"I'll be fine, Seaweed Brain. On three," she whispered with determination.

"All right."

Atlas laughed boldly yet again. "What boy, having one last conversation with your pretty blonde girlfriend." Even a few of the thugs let out some snickers.

Just then, police sirens and lights rang and flashed all around us. We didn't anticipate the cops' arrival, but it acted as a good distraction.

"Now," Annabeth and I both shouted together.

We dashed to the left. While my one hand stayed clasped to Annabeth, my other threw the hardest punch at the thug holding Calypso. She screamed out as the knife scratched her shoulder while the guy crumbled to the ground.

Within milliseconds, we were all running towards the edge of the construction site. Gunshots started firing around us, and I immediately pulled Annabeth behind a cinder block as my body wrapped around her for protection.

"Oh gods, Annabeth, are you okay?" I said into her ear, which was close to my face.

"I'm fine, Seaweed Brain. I'm good."

I was still holding her firmly as my gaze wandered to Calypso. She was crouched behind a neighboring cinder block. The tears, dust, and sweat blemished her pretty face and flowy hair, but she seemed otherwise fine physically.

Gunfire surrounded us, and it was too loud. My arms wrapped even more around Annabeth as I covered her head.

Annabeth was too special for me to let anything happen to her.

"Hey, kids," a voice shouted.

Calypso, Annabeth, and I looked at the police officer about 20 yards away. He was motioning us to run towards him. A few other police officers were firing their weapons at the thugs behind us. We were pretty much hiding in the middle of the crossfire.

The police officer looked familiar, but there was no time to think about it. He was counting down on his hand. As soon as he got to zero, we bolted towards the group of cops. Annabeth was a faster runner than I was, which helped our speed since our hands were connected. My other hand was pushing Calypso's back so that she stayed ahead of me.

The police officer immediately escorted us out of the construction site and to safety. He ushered us into his cop car and drove us several blocks away.

"Are all you okay?" he asked boldly.

Calypso seemed shaken up, but we were all physically fine.

"Yes, we're okay, officer," Annabeth replied.

"Good. I'm officer Ares, and I was a member of the Atlas case two years ago. I cannot believe that bastard escaped prison, but he'll be back behind bars within the hour."

"Did you catch him?" I asked quickly.

"Yes, he was. That's what all the radio buzz is about. There were a few casualties as well, but luckily all three of you teenagers are okay," Ares said.

Ares pulled up next to my car. Another cop had driven it out of the alley that we had parked in, and brought it here. As we got out of the cop car, Annabeth broke our hand-holding. I immediately missed her touch and all the warmth/comfort that came with it.

A sudden realization crept into my mind: I liked Annabeth Chase, and I liked her quite a lot.

Damn it. That's not supposed to happen.