DownPour

Nevada

"Why exactly should I go to this 'event?"

"Come on, Artemis, please?" Percy pleaded. "I don't want to face this alone!"

"They're mortals," the goddess rolled her eyes. "What could happen?"

"They're my mortal family," Percy stressed. "Mom's making me go to this family reunion and I don't want to and it would suck. I wouldn't know any of them and I'd be anxious and stressed and just horrible."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I would fix that?"

"You would make it less stressful," Percy said. "Please? I'll make it up to you!"

"And how will you do that?" Artemis crossed her arms.

"We'll figure that out," Percy waved off. "Be an actually nice girlfriend for once and come along!"

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "I'll ignore that for now. How long is it?"

"Just one night," Percy informed, hope growing. "We'd leave the next morning."

Artemis sighed. "Fine. Just this once."

Percy grinned widely. "Great! We're leaving at around six tomorrow morning. See you then?"

"See you then," Artemis agreed, giving him a quick kiss before returning to her huntresses, Percy turning out of the park and starting to jog back to his apartment.

The next day Artemis flashed outside of the apartment, rapping on the door. Sally pulled the door open and smiled brightly when she saw who it was. "Artemis! Come in, come in!"

Artemis stepped into the apartment. It had become quite familiar to her after months of dropping by every so often. Paul was rolling his and Sally's suitcase out, giving Artemis a friendly smile. He was still a bit iffy around her despite how much she was here, which was understandable considering her reputation. She had heard nothing but praise from Percy and trusted the son of Poseidon enough that she held nothing against the man. "Where is this reunion I'll be attending?"

"It's in Nevada," Sally informed. "Percy's gotten permission to take the plane there and back. The trip's only six hours. We weren't aware you'd be coming so we didn't get you a ticket, sorry."

"Don't worry," Artemis reassured. "I'll be fine. I could flash you there if you'd like."

"Oh, no, we're perfectly fine," Sally waved her off.

Percy took that moment to come out from his room, carrying only a duffel bag containing only sleepwear and tomorrow's outfit, along with various other toiletries. He held a sleeping bag in his other hand with a pillow shoved into the wrapping. He looked tired but his eyes still lit up when he saw her. Percy set his stuff on the floor and stumbled over to her. She chuckled, walking towards him and wrapping him in a hug. "You came," he mumbled.

"I told you I would," she responded, pulling away. "I don't go back on my word."

"I would like to disagree," Percy shot back before turning to his mom. "When are we leaving?"

"Once you get your shoes and jacket on," his mother replied. Percy did as she asked, picking up his stuff.

"Have you ever actually driven in a car?" Percy asked her on the way out.

"Not on the roads, no. This will be a first." Artemis didn't like the roads mortals had created; they destroyed the wildlife. It would be interesting to see exactly why the roads existed, though. They were meant for speed; how fast could they go?

Artemis settled herself by Percy in the back of the Prius, glaring at the strap that was supposed to hold her in place. "Why must I restrain myself? What purpose does it serve?"

"It's for protection," Percy said, chuckling at her. "If the car stops suddenly or crashes, you'd go flying forward on impact. The seatbelt makes sure that doesn't happen."

"I refuse to restrict myself in such ways," Artemis protested. "Nothing will happen."

"There isn't even any point in trying to argue with you. Fine. Do what you want," Percy grumbled, buckling in his own seatbelt. "Not like I could stop you." Artemis smiled, pecking him on the cheek in way of reward. "That won't work on me every time."

"It hasn't failed me yet."

"It will someday!"

Watching Artemis react to being in a car was amusing. Her eyes widened when the car started to reverse, looking out the window as they backed out of parking. They joined in with the morning rush, moving to the south. Artemis scooted away from the window, pressing her shoulder against Percys. "Haven't you been in Apollo's car before?"

"A car in the sky is different than a car on the road," she said back to him, her eyes still a bit wide. "This is an odd sensation."

"Perks of dating a really old goddess: I get to see things like this."

"Shut your mouth!"

Artemis did not like the airport. It was big and crowded and they made her go through this . . . this device that checked her for something. She assumed it was checking for weapons when Percy worriedly asked if she had any knives on her person.

"Is there any way I can figure out if the plane is full?" Artemis asked once they were in the waiting area.

"You can ask the attendant," Sally replied, pointing out the attendant in front of the doors that would lead to the plane. Artemis did and learned that there were seven open seats. The flight attendant listed the numbers of the open seats and she focused on remembering one. She refused to sit anywhere near unknown males, even if it took a trick of the mist to succeed in that.

The plane was even odder. It was large and cramped, something Artemis was unsuited to. She did indeed have to trick an elder man that his seat was somewhere else in order to remain with Percy, but it didn't bother her. Percy just rolled his eyes at her, a small grin on his face. He wasn't really all that happy at the moment, for obvious reasons. This terrified him despite Zeus's grant.

"I'm going to sleep this whole plane ride," Percy announced. "Wake me up when we're there." He leaned back in his seat, letting his body fall to the side so he could comfortably tuck his face into her shoulder. Artemis wrapped an arm around him, absent-mindedly fiddling with his hair. Percy pressed a kiss onto her bare skin before he stilled himself, attempting to fall asleep and escape the fear. Artemis was okay staying awake. She was a goddess; she could stay awake for days without getting tired and her hunting had left her with a very large span of patience.

The turbulence did freak her out a bit (more than a bit) but she was fine. She was fine. Nothing was wrong here, but the fact that she was inside machinery didn't sit well with her. She much preferred it when horses were the transport and mortals hadn't yet destroyed nature.

Artemis woke Percy by tilting his head and kissing him on the lips. He grunted, opening his eyes as Artemis pulled away. "We leaving?" Artemis nodded, watching the line of people exiting the plane. No way was she joining in that. Percy acknowledged that and waited for the end of the line.

Artemis stretched once out of the plane, her back popping many times over. "That was an interesting experience. What will we be doing now?"

Percy grimaced. "Facing my family."

This will get a continuation. Still taking ideas for reconcilliation if anyone else wants to join in.