Percy groaned. It was too bright and an angel was hovering over him. Had he died? Was he in heaven? Nah. If he died, he would definitely go to hell. He had stolen too many blue cookies to go to heaven. 

Wait. He wasn't in heaven... he was in the hospital wing and the angel was none other than Annabeth. He smiled thinking about the fact that Annabeth would kick him in the shin if she could read his thoughts. After all, that's how they first met. With him calling her a Barbie. 

Percy slowly tried to sit up.

"You idiot! "Annabeth exclaimed as she immediately rushed to help him. Her eyes were a little puffed as though she had been crying. It was so little  that you wouldn't notice it unless you looked very closely. "

You told me you were going out for a walk. You never told me you were going on a walk with death! And how the hell did you find a scorpion, huh?" 

"I love you too," Percy said as he smiled at Annabeth.

"You almost died! A few more minutes and you would have been dead."

"Yeah well... what can I say? Everybody wants a piece of me. Even death."

Annabeth threw her head back and laughed, her anger forgotten.

Percy then remembered everything. Going for the walk, Luke, his betrayal, the scorpion and he immediately grimaced.

Annabeth immediately shot Percy a worried look. "You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just that... " Percy trailed of. Annabeth wasn't going to like this. After all, Luke was way closer to her than to him. "Listen, Annabeth. I need to tell you something. And you won't like it."

"What is it?"

"Well... The scorpion. It was a staged attack. Someone was trying to kill me."

Annabeth stiffened and narrowed her eyes. "Who?" 

"Luke."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Luke? As in Luke Castellan? The prince of Hermonassa? My brother, Luke?"

Percy pressed his lips together. He knew that this was going downhill. Annabeth trusted Luke with her life. He gently took Annabeth's hand started rubbing small circles with his thumb.

"Yeah."

Annabeth's gripped his hand. Hard. "He wouldn't. He won't hurt anyone unnecessarily."

"That's the point. Me dying is necessary for him. He has joined Kronos' army. And for them to win, the unity of the twelve cities is one of the worst things to happen. They can't let the prophecy come true."

"Luke wouldn't. Not Luke. You probably were hallucinating because of the scorpion sting."

"Annabeth," Percy gently tugged her hand. "It was him. I'm sure of it. I'm sorry"

And that's all Annabeth needed to hear. She bent down and hugged him. Tight. Confused, Percy hugged back and shifted slightly as he was sitting on the hospital bed and the position was awkward. That's when he felt the tears on his shirt. Annabeth was crying.

"Hey, hey. It's fine. We will figure it out. Like we always do. We'll find a way to bring Luke back," Percy said as he comforted her.

"I was in the library and then suddenly news comes that you are almost dying. I come to see you. And you were all pale and sweating. And then a few minutes later you were gasping for breath. The doctor told that a few minutes later and you would have died. Everybody was so worried. And now you tell me it was Luke. My brother. One of the few people who I trust with my life, he did this to you. And now I'll have to tell Thalia. I feel so bad for her. I can't imagine what I would have done if the roles were reversed and Thalia told me that you tried to kill Luke. I would have gone crazy. When we got married, I never thought I would have to deal with all this," Annabeth ranted as more tears spilled.

"If it makes you feel better, Luke told me that he wouldn't hurt you. Ever. He still thinks of you as his younger sister. And if you want, I'll tell the news to Thalia. Since when have you been holding all this in? You know you can tell me anything right?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said as she sighed and calmed down. "Thanks, Percy."

"It's my job. I'm your husband," Percy said as he comically puffed his chest out making Annabeth laugh.

"Once we are done with the war. I'll take you out. For our super-late honeymoon. To Paris. You always wanted to visit Paris, right? We'll do that," Percy said trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah, that will be nice."

"Who got me here?" Percy asked when he was sure that Annabeth was fine. "The poison would have killed me by the time anyone noticed I was missing."

"We are at war. Of course, I wasn't going to let my husband walk in the woods alone. I asked one of the guards to follow you at a distance."

There was a knock in the door. Annabeth immediately wiped her tears. Gone were all the signs that she had cried. No puffed red eyes, no tears. Nothing. It was immediately replaced by a mask. Princess Annabeth was back and his wise girl had disappeared behind the mask.

"Come in," Annabeth called. In came Sally. She shot Annabeth a knowing look, as though she heard Annabeth crying a few minutes earlier and immediately started checking up on her son.

Annabeth excused herself and went to inform Poseidon about Luke. Percy sighed. The next few weeks were going to be busy.