15 Oh gods, They Are Going to Kill Me...

Percy's POV

Percy found herself back in the depth of Tartarus. And it horrified her. This is the one place where she did not want to be in her flashbacks. She watched that day's event unfolded in front of her:

Percy stood in front of the Akhlys, the goddess of misery, her hands raised and a look of fury on her face. Poison surrounded the room, drowning the goddess with her own tears.

"Percy stop!" Annabeth cried. "You are killing her!"

The daughter of Poseidon didn't seem to hear her best friend as rage continued to fill her eyes.

"PERCY STOP, PLEASE!"

Percy gasped awake and instantly sat up. She looked around her frantically and relaxed once she realized that she was back in the Cave and in her room.

"You're awake!" a voice cried in surprise. Percy turned to the source of the voice, her hand went instinctively to her pen.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, calm down," Dick said, rushing to her and holding her down on the med bed. "You're safe, it's okay."

"Sorry, my ADHD has been acting up." Percy sighed and plopped down. Dick laughed and planted a light kiss on her forehead.

A momment of confortable scilence.

"What happened back there?" Percy was caught off guard by this question.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you faint back in Lativa? Did Vertigo do something to you? Did you used your powers?" Percy pondered on this. In truth, she wanted to tell him about her curse, but what would he think about her? Would he understand the pain she had to endure every time a memory of the past hits her? No, this has to stay a secret, as long as she lives.

"Yeah, I overused my powers," Percy lied. It wasn't a complete lie, part of the reason why she passed out was that she used Vapor-travel, on someone other than herself.

Dick looked confused. "But Kaldur said that there is no trace of magic in the palace," Percy smirked.

"Kaldur is an Atleantian, Dickie Bird. He is used to Atleantian magic, my powers are not magic, it's a birthright given to me by my father." She laughed out loud at the acrobat's reddened face. "Did he not tell you that?"

"Guess that may have slipped his mind?"

"I would believe so." Dick shook his head, a slight smile on his lips.

"Well, you better get some rest. You must be tired from the fight."

"How long was I out?" Percy asked. She thought back to her last encounter with the curse. She was out for two hours, so what's her record this time? Percy expected Nightwing to say three hours or four but what came out of his mouth slightly startled her.

"Two days. You must have really pushed your limits huh?"

"Y-yeah, I guess."

"So what exactly did you do?"

"I vaporized the queen."

The look on Dick's face was priceless. Percy laughed so hard she almost fell over the bed.

"I didn't kill her, Bird boy." She tried to calm herself. "Gods no, I will never do that. I simply used the water in the air to transfer her directly to the safe house."

Dick put a hand on his chest and sighed deeply. "Jeez, you really had me there for a sec." He turned back to Percy with a soft smile. "I'm glad that you are alright. When you fainted back at the palace, I was scared that someone had hurt you and I was not there to protect you..."

Percy put a hand on his arm and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Like I have said before, I have been in more dangerous situations than that."

"I still find it hard to believe that you have already been through two wars." He sighed. "But I guess you are right, you are capable of protecting yourself. But I will always be there to look after you, you won't get rid of me that easily."

Percy laughed as Nightwing pulled her in for a hug. "Won't dream of it."

"I better go, Batman, is expecting a report of the mission. I will come to find you later."

Percy waited till Dick had retreated from her room and closed the door before she let her smile drop. She sighed deeply. How long can she keep this up? Sooner or later, her teammates will become suspicious of her constant pass out. She can't exactly stop using her powers, now that the villains know she is a hero with the power over water, they are going to throw all kinds of stuff at her. Percy was so focused on her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the Iris-Message that had appeared in her room until...

"Kep-Brain! Stop dreaming!" The distinct voice of Thalia startled Percy so badly she tumbled out of her bed and crash-landed on the floor. Above her, the daughter of Zeus's laughter ring out in the room.

"Shut up, Pine-cone face!" Percy grumbled and pulled herself up.

Thalia wiped a tear from her face. "What's up Kelp head?"

"The Drama Queen himself, of course. Why?" Thalia snorted as thunder rumbled outside.

"Anything interesting going on with that dress-up club of yours?" Now it's Percy's turn to snort.

"Not really, and it's not a dress-up club, it's a superhero team."

"Whichever, Seaweed-brain." A different voice grumbled. "Just spill the bean, from the looks of your face from earlier, something major must have happened."

Percy smiled at the sight of her dear goth cousin. "Hey, Nico!"

Nico nodded his greeting, a slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. The son of Hades looked better than he had seven months ago. His messy black hair had grown out even longer, almost covering his eyes. He still wears all black but his skin complexion looked healthier than before.

"Now spill, what's up?" Percy sighed.

"We recently had a mission..." She told them about her time at Lativa and the team's victory against Vertigo and the assassins.

Thalia and Nico listened with content to their cousin. Thalia choked when she heard that Percy went undercover with Nightwing and posed as a couple together.

"You? Disguised as a girlfriend of a mortal hero?"

"He was disguised as a guest too..."

"Not my point, Fish-brain! He better not have done any inappropriate things to you, or I swear I'm gonna-"

"No don't you dare, Air-head! He would never do that! He is my Boyfrien-"

"SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND?!" Percy winced at her cousins' sudden outburst. Oops, forgot to tell them...

"...Uh, surprise...?" She whispered with an innocent smile.

"You're lucky, Seaweed-brain, that both I and Death-breath are currently at Camp, or else you are dead." Percy gulped, she did not want to zap by lightning again. Never again.

"Wait, Percy, how long have you been dating this guy?" Nico asked.

"And what is his name?" Thalia added, a murderous look in her eyes.

"First, I have been dating him for two months now. Second, his name is Nightwing, I can't reveal his secret ID. And No, Thalia, you can't kill him!" Thalia huffed, but Nico looked concerned.

"You have been dating for two months?"

"Yeah, why? Look, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you guys, I've just been really busy lately..."

Nico rolled his eyes. "We will settle the whole 'amnesia' thing later, I'm talking about did your dad know about this?"

Nico's question hit the daughter of Poseidon hard between the eyes. Percy's face paled immediately.

"Oh gods, they are going to kill me..."