Chapter Text
Percy doesn’t like Annabeth.
It’s a fact that he himself is fully aware of — that he has to be aware of. She’s his detective partner. His colleague. And worse yet, she’s incredibly frustrating.
“You have to admit there’s a spark,” Grover had said on the bus. Damn you Grover. All Percy wanted to think about was the cool persona he’d constructed for this year’s Tactical Village day — he was looking forward to this. Fighting it out with the other precincts in paintball under the guise of testing out new equipment? There was nothing more Percy than this. And he needed that Coolest Kill trophy, even if it was just a cheap kids’ karate award.
Usually, it’s at the forefront of his mind. But Grover’s words annoyingly ring in his head even as he unloads his duffel bag.
“Annabeth,” an unfamiliar male voice calls out.
“Luke!” Annabeth exclaims as they pull each other into a hug. “It’s been so long. What are you doing here?”
“I’m with the Eight-Two now. We’re paired with you today.” Luke smiles and Percy can admit it’s pretty charming. He towers over the two of them. “Quick. 10-54L.”
Those seem like a random string of characters to Percy, but Annabeth inhales and answers like it’s been imprinted into her mind. “Ambulance case. Severed limb.”
They both fall into laughter and share a high-five — Percy lets out his own awkward chuckle as it dies out. He tries putting on his trademark grin, but his cheeks are straining. He turns from the table, arms crossed as he looks at this… Luke. “What is going on here?”
“Oh, Luke and I have been friends for forever, but we reconnected at this voluntary refresher course on police codes.”
Percy nods slowly. “Sounds… fun.”
Yeah, not exactly his idea of fun, but he knows what Annabeth is like. A boring camp about memorising a bunch of numbers and letters is right up her alley. His dyslexia says no.
“Nice to meet you,” he says flatly. He thinks Luke says the same back, but he can barely process it. He turns back to his duffel bag. Even so, he watches as her eyes glimmer when Luke says they should ‘catch up’ and how her hands are neatly clasped behind her back. She doesn’t act that way with him. In fact, the light in her eyes seems to fizzle out when she looks at him. To be fair, he’s usually doing something stupid to warrant that reaction. Some part of him wishes she looked at him that way.
He hears something about how they went on a few dates before. Something else, too, but whatever she said flew out the other ear in place of the word dates. She went on dates. With that guy.
As she and Clarisse leave, Grover approaches him with a knowing smile. Percy blurts, “I wonder what she saw in him.”
Luke is as handsome of a guy as Percy can imagine. Dark hair, tanned skin and his police vest fits nicely over his muscular frame. Ugh, is he seriously appreciating this code-camper’s looks right now?
“Why do you care so much?” Grover asks, pitching his voice up.
“First of all, your insinuating voice is way too high. You sound like you got kicked in the nuts. Secondly, I don’t care. I’m just curious.” He avoids eye contact, opting to stare down at the police vest in his bag.
“Whatever you say.”
Percy would hate to admit he’s wrong, so he shoves whatever feeling is bubbling in his stomach back where it came from. Can’t think about it too long when his guns are filled with bright orange paint and he’s basically being given permission to mess around and look cool.
A buzzing sound alerts the Nine-Nine of the previous precinct’s appearance, having just finished their course. This would typically be good news for Percy. His turn to be a badass and finally play out that cool persona he’d been crafting in his head.
It would’ve been, if not for the fact it was the Eight-Two. An unfamiliar smile spreads on Annabeth’s face as a dark mop of hair comes into view. “How’d it go?”
Luke shrugs. “Not to brag, but I think we just set an NYPD course record for time.”
Definitely a brag. Whatever. It’s not like he’ll get Coolest Kill. That spot is reserved for Percy. His lips press into a smile as he nods along.
Annabeth’s grey eyes widen. “A course record? That’s really impressive.”
Yeah, no. He’s not gonna let some code-camp nerd one-up him on his day. It has nothing to do with Annabeth. Of course.
Before he knows it, his mouth is saying, “All right, huddle up. Let’s take this seriously.”
So maybe this year his reflexes were sharper, and maybe he played it extra safe when turning a corner, and maybe he was really happy that Sarge paired him up with Annabeth so she could witness all his coolness upfront.
Or—or maybe, he can’t stop checking his watch for the time because he’s meticulous. Detailed in the same way she is. Impressive in the same way Luke is.
Percy doesn’t like Annabeth, he swears, but when Sarge exclaims their precinct beat the record, he has to force himself not to shove it in Luke’s face.