Flash Flood (A Percy Jackson / Flash Crossover)

Chapter Eighteen - Annabeth

Annabeth was ready for the night to be over at this point.

The earthquake had ceased a minute after Barry had taken Percy, but they hadn't returned to the Labs yet. Currently, she was with Caitlin and Cisco, whom she'd found after the boys had raced out. Well, Barry had raced out. He'd grabbed her boyfriend and taken the demigod with him.

"So he can make earthquakes too," Cisco said after standing back up a table that had fallen over. From where Annabeth was helping Caitlin shelve things, she nodded. "Cool. I mean, this wasn't the ideal situation to find that out, obviously, but earthquake and water powers? It's pretty sweet."

"Please tell me you're not changing his name," Caitlin called over, turning her head to look at her friend. Annabeth smiled faintly.

Cisco waved a dismissive hand, assuring the doctor, "Nah. He's still Flood."

Caitlin nodded, then returned to cleaning up the Cortex.

Annabeth didn't say anything, her mind occupied by thoughts other than superhero nicknames. Sally and Paul had been taken by a revenge hungry demigod-metahuman that had attempted to kill them twice so far, both attempts on the same day. She was worried about them. She'd admit it, Sally could handle herself when things came down to it. She knew how to use a gun. She'd put up with demigod adventures for years. But she hadn't encountered metahumans before.

Not only was she worried for Percy's parents, but she was also concerned for Percy. He'd lost control of his powers a few times, from the time he'd made the toilets explode on the Argo II to when he'd busted S.T.A.R. Labs's sink. An earthquake had never happened before. It would've been better if it'd been smaller. (Partially because Cisco wouldn't have fretted over if any of his gizmos had broken, as he had been a few minutes ago.)

A gust of wind came from behind her, blowing her and Caitlin's hair around. Annabeth quickly turned and saw Barry now standing in the Cortex, Percy beside him. They both looked tired, and she spotted hints of relief in the speedster's eyes.

"Barry, Percy. You're okay?" Caitlin checked, walking towards them. She frowned, noticing the condition of Barry's clothing. "You're wet."

"We're fine," he assured her. He didn't address the second part of what Caitlin said, Annabeth noticed. He looked around the room, "What about you guys?"

"We're fine," Caitlin answered.

If anything else was said, Annabeth didn't catch it. Focused on Percy, she strode forward. As she neared, she noticed he was holding something in one of his hands. Choosing to ignore it for now, she stopped once she was in front of him, her expression carefully controlled. Percy knew her too well though. He must have guessed she was upset, because he started to say, "Annabeth..."

The daughter of Athena didn't let him get any further. One second she was standing still as a statue. The next, she slammed her fist into Percy's good arm, landing a solid punch and earning a small grunt of pain from her boyfriend. In her peripheral vision, she noticed Barry jump. "Well, that escalated quickly," Cisco said to somebody. Who it was, she didn't know. She didn't care.

Ignoring them, she narrowed her eyes at Percy. "Don't ever do something like that again," she growled. She left it open, letting him figure out for himself if she was talking about the earthquake. In part, she was, but Percy's unresponsiveness earlier had freaked her out more than she'd admit.

Before he could get a word out, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. "Okay?"

She felt him nod after a moment. "Okay," he said softly.

The adults were quiet, letting the two teens have their moment. She gave Percy one last squeeze, then pulled back. She sighed and tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "This... has been a long trip."