[Friend of a Friend] PJO x Marvel

[13. Awake from the Nightmare]

He always loved her eyes. Grey wasn't a common color to be found sitting on the face of a human, so when he first saw them staring at him he couldn't help but feel drawn in. All those years ago, even though he'd had way more important things to be pondering, all he could think about were Annabeth's eyes. Even now, staring right at them knowing that it wasn't actually her he was seeing. He liked her hair, too. Princess curls the color of gold, or at least the way he likes to imagine gold. He loved everything about her, her smile and the two small little dimples that reminded him that he was still part human. He liked the way she'd twirl a strand of her hair (the one contrasting section of grey that never seemed to grow out) when she was concentrating, and the way she'd always look over at him to try and understand what he was feeling in each and every moment. She'd stopped doing that after tartarus, maybe because she didn't have to guess how he felt anymore. Or maybe because she didn't want to know. He didn't blame her though, he wasn't quite sure how to look anyone in the eyes anymore either.

He had always loved Annabeth, even before the reality of his feelings were realized. He knew from the start that he never wanted to leave her side, even through all the bickering and teasing. She was his Wise Girl, his whole purpose of living and his entire world. He'd have certainly died years ago if not for her, and that fact alone made him all the more grateful to be seeing her face in his dream. That feeling didn't last long, it had been snatched away before he could even process the moment. She stared at him, a blank empty stare, the grey in her eyes almost as dull as a rock, and she turned to dust. He had no time to run over to her, to help in any way he could, he could only stand and watch.

He began to shake, not a nervous kind of shake, no it was as if someone were grabbing his shoulders and attempting to wake him up.

"Percy?"

Percy sat up, he felt the unpleasant coat of sweat on his body and caught his breath. He wasn't sure why he even needed to catch his breath, he wasn't screaming in this dream, he wasn't thrashing around, no, he was completely still. It was like he had been turned to stone by Medusa herself.

Percy didn't say anything, only stared at Stark who looked concerned.

"Nightmare?"

Percy wasn't a fan of all these nightmares that had been occurring since Tartarus. He understood that traumatic experiences did have that effect, but this nightmare was different. He'd been having this same nightmare for weeks now, and he assumed the cause was just his own anxiety from not knowing if Annabeth was okay.

"Is Steve here yet?"

"No."

"Figured. We're gonna die on this ship, in the middle of no where, just three people from completely different worlds. Why would you tell me Steve would be able to help us? Obviously, he hasn't."

"He can't find us, I'm assuming. As you said, middle of no where. Not like it's gonna be easy to find, but i'm sure they're all working on it every moment they can."

  Percy had only had one drachma in his pocket when he'd arrived to the desolate planet. While he much rather wanted to iris message Annabeth, he knew Annabeth had no way of getting to space. Leaving the whole rescue ordeal in the hands of Stark's teammates felt like the better option, seeing as they all had a better idea of the universe and how to get a dam spaceship.
Besides, if he did choose her instead, he may have found the answer to a question he wasn't ready to know the truth about quite yet.

"You know any card games?" Stark then asked him, throwing a deck of cards on the table in front of him. "Poker?"

Percy frowned, "Yeah, kinda."

"Nebula?"

The blue robo alien (or whatever she was) walked over to the table and stared blankly at the deck of cards, Stark just attempted a smile and opened the small box. He took the cards out and began shuffling, the hand motions almost appearing as a twisted flashback to Percy. Gabe's hands were always dirty, covered in cigarette ashes and spilled beer- and who could forget the plain wedding band stuck to the man's finger, Percy always wanted to watch him attempt to take the dam thing off. Gabe always played at the kitchen table, a table which definitely showed its years of usage. It was wobbly and stained, some spots of the wood were bubbled up from "water" damage, and scratches marked the entire surface. It was their only option though, and Gabe always used to yell at Sally to get a new one ("You think I like playing on this damn table, woman? If you don't buy a new one I'll take the money from you myself!")