Ichor

Commander (Part XXI)

Year 20 - Commander
Planet Earth

° ° ° °

"That pig-headed, son of-"

"Trying to stay under the radar, Thalia. Insulting your father right now would bring unwanted attention," Percy pointed out.

"Did you really need to put the circlet back on?" Nico complained though he posed it as a question. The son of Hades was more pleased Percy was back than he admitted.

"I couldn't risk certain gods finding out. Chaos assured me they were busy with... other activities at that moment, so it was safe to do so. I cannot do it again so openly."

"I just can't believe," Major Mathew Hawn said slowly, "that our Commander has been the Perseus Jackson this entire time. And his hair isn't even blue! We all knew he had a secret past, but this... wow."

"You're not mad?" Percy asked no one in particular. "I kept a secret from all of you, you're not mad?"

"You did it to protect us, right?" Piper checked.

"I did."

"Technically, you never lied to the army. It was all classified by Chaos," Andrew argued on his behalf.

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth asserted. "He's back now. Percy is here to help. We can deal with everything else later."

She had run into his arms shortly after Percy revealed himself. She broke down in streams of tears and apologies thinking she'd done something wrong or given up on him. But Percy quickly disabused those notions.

The reunion was heartfelt and awkward. Andrew was forcing his jealousy down while Dylan tried not to seem uncomfortable. The former couple decided to talk privately after he explained everything. And Percy figured this was her way of hurrying up to that conversation.

"Indeed. Annabeth and I need to... converse in private." Now in a voice the demigods could recognize—thanks to a slight modification to the circlet's enchantments—Percy sent out his orders, "The rest of you still have training. Tartarus's army marches closer every day. I suspect they'll be here in three days' time. So no time to waste. Dismissed."

The crowd shuffled away reluctantly, hanging around to see if anything else exciting would happen. When nothing did, they eventually cleared out. Only Annabeth and Percy remained.

"Shall we talk?" he suggested.

"I can pour lemonade in the Big House," she offered.

They nodded to each other before heading inside.

"You're awfully good at coming back from the dead," Annabeth commented.

Percy gave a smirk in return. "At least it wasn't my own funeral this time. Can't become too predictable."

She smiled back at him. But the affection she once held in it wasn't there. "You've changed."

Percy breathed in deeply. On the out breath, he said, "I have."

"And I have not. Not as much as you."

"No. You haven't," Percy agreed.

"I think we both want to apologize for things out of our control if I'm not mistaken."

He let out a light chuckle. "You rarely are, Annabeth."

"It's nice to hear you say my name again, Percy."

"And I never thought I'd hear you say mine again."

Annabeth shook her head out of memory lane. "As I was saying, I guess we can skip the apologies we know we'd give and jump to the 'there's no need to apologize because it's not your fault' part of our conversation."

"Agreed. And I want you to know I still care for you. Not like how I did. Not like that. But I never forgot you."

"Same here... so you don't mind me and Dylan?"

"Of course not," Percy assured. "He's a good man. Good potential as a healer too. And I can see he's very fond of you. And you him."

"You sound so formal. Is that out of habit or..."

"Comes with the occupation more than you'd imagine."

"What about you? Anyone special?"

Percy turned to hide his blush. He could hide it from everyone else, but having your ex-girlfriend who you went to Tartarus with and almost built a life with ask you about a new crush was just too embarrassing for him to conceal.

"There might be. I haven't done anything about it yet. But I think I will now that the secret is gone."

"They're lucky to have you. I'm happy for you if you're happy," Annabeth told him with sincerity.

Percy reciprocated the sentiment. "You too."

A few stories went between them about the years apart. Idle chat wasted the hour before they decided to finalize battle plans together. Percy and Annabeth worked just as well together as before. Only this time, there wasn't something more.

° ° ° °

"What do you think they're talking about?" Andrew wondered nervously.

"I wish I could tell you," Dylan said dejectedly. It was hard not to feel uneasy when your girlfriend was talking to her ex who happened to be the Commander of the Chaos Army and the Hero of Olympus.

"Calm down," Travis soothed, "I'm sure it's just casual conversation about being friends and what to do now that his identity is known."

Dylan and Andrew just stared at Travis disbelievingly.

"How about we wait until they come out before speculating?" Travis suggested.

"And do what?" Andrew countered.

"We could check in on training. I'm not scheduled right now, but I have nothing better to do," Dylan said.

"Did you know him well?" Andrew questioned Dylan as they walked towards the open field where people were practicing.

"Not really. But enough to know he's very different now. Before, you couldn't keep a smile off his face unless there was an enemy to take down. He was laid back and didn't take things too seriously if it didn't matter. Especially the rules. Not sure he understood the concept of rules when I knew him. Or he did and decidedly ignored them all. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. We'd all probably be dead if it were."

"It was weird for me," Travis told them, "to see how closed off he'd become. We used to joke a lot and do pranks together. He didn't talk about his feelings then either, but he at least showed when he was confused or upset or happy. He doesn't do that much anymore. Except when he's with Andrew."

The last sentence casually thrown in there caught Andrew off guard. He almost missed it because of how unimportant Travis made it sound. Both he and Dylan were laughing at the face Andrew made when he finally realized what was said.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, Andrew, that I have on good account that Percy reciprocates your feelings. Has been for a while. But he didn't want to be in a relationship based on a lie. Now that you know who he is, there's no secret to get in your way."

"And Annabeth is definitely out of the picture?" Dylan had to ask.

"Definitely. But don't tell him I told you."

Dylan moved to zip his lips shut while Andrew was busy grinning ear to ear. Their day just got a little better. And they hoped it meant for a better future too.