The Lightning Thief [Book One]

Nightmare.

*This chapter is just random fluff and a filler to make this first book seem longer! I realized that the Percy Jackson and the Olympian books are all pretty short, lol. I can probably finish this in a week or two with how fast I'm spitting out chapters. So enjoy some ReaAbeth bonding happening. uwu*

The ride to Colorado was going to take half the day, and they wouldn't reach Denver by the afternoon. That night was the first night they slept in relative peace since this quest had even started. Annabeth was sitting there, woken from her sleep by some invisible force. She had been laying down along the long cushioned chair that she and Reagan shared. Her head was on Reagan's lap, as Reagan had fallen to sleep with her head against the cold glass of the window. Annabeth noticed for the first time how calm the slightly older girl looked whenever she was sleeping. Not so angry or thoughtful all the time. There was a scar that stretched over her eyebrow, and a sliver of the eyebrow that had the scar over it didn't grow back at all. Dirt smudged her face from sleeping on the ground outside, and her clothes were a bit dirty. In fact, they all looked like wild forest children by now. The scar on her eyebrow twitched, face contorting into a pained expression.

Was she having a nightmare? Reagan's left arm twitched too, causing Annabeth to flinch and make some space between them on the seat. Reagan murmured something, but it was too gargled and messy to actually understand what was being said. After a few seconds of this, Annabeth decided to wake Reagan up in fear that she'd wake up Percy and Grover too.

"Reagan," Annabeth whispered, reaching over and touching her arm gently.

When Reagan's arm was touched, her eyes snapped open and she flinched away, one of her hands tightly grabbing Annabeth's wrist. "Don't!" Though she didn't realize that it was Annabeth, her eyes glazed over still. But Annabeth flinched away nonetheless.

"Reagan. Reagan." This time Annabeth shook her, and it did the trick to wake her up.

Reagan blinked rapidly several times, staring at Annabeth in the dark, the moon outside giving them the only light. Her breathing was heavy, and she looked like she was on the verge of crying now. Slowly she relaxed, her body returning to its equilibrium. Her heart slowed down and she dropped the wrist she was holding, tilting back to relax against the seat. No one spoke at first, but Annabeth was the first to break the silence.

"Are you okay?"

Reagan shook her head and chuckled. "Do I look okay?" she muttered dryly, wiping her eyes with the heels of her hands. She let out a shuddering breath as she sighed heavily, like some burden was making it hard to breathe.

Now Annabeth knew what is was like to have nightmares. Demigods usually didn't have normal nightmares. They were more vivid and sometimes so life-like they seemed to be really happening. "You know you can talk to me, right?" She wanted her voice to come out steady and calm, but it was a soft whisper in the dark.

The other girl attempted a smile. "These are my problems to deal with, but thanks."

Annabeth actually cared for Reagan's health, believe it or not. And right now she didn't look so good. "Reagan, tell me what's bothering you. It's always better to vent about your problems to someone."

Reagan paused and chuckled breathlessly, running her fingers through her messy hair to try and get rid of the knots. "It was a dream about home. About my step-dad. The usual," she answered and sighed again, turning her head away to stare out the window at the passing night.

"What's he like?"

She shrugged. "Uhhhh. Abusive. Mean. Angry. Abusive," she listed.

"You said abusive twice," Annabeth pointed out.

Reagan nodded. "What can I say? He's an abusive man."

Annabeth frowned at that. "He...he..." She couldn't bring herself to even finish the thought. The thought of Reagan living in some home like that for so long seemed atrocious, to say the least.

"Yep. Last moment I spent with my mom was when I was in the hospital because of him," she finished for her. She sounded real casual about it all, and Annabeth wasn't sure how. "I've been fighting with him every chance I had," she added while nodding. "Now tit for tat, Annabeth Chase. Tell me about yourself."

Annabeth wanted to press Reagan to tell her more, but settled with what she had learned and began taking about herself, talking about her dad and about her step-monster and her step-siblings. It was nice to talk about these things. Before she realized it, however, Reagan had fallen back asleep. Reagan was snoring softly, lips parted as her head tilted to the side and rested against Annabeth's shoulder at a somewhat odd angle since Reagan was taller. A blush spread across her face, and she slowly stopped talking and just sat there in the dark alone. Percy was dead asleep, drool dripping onto the front of his shirt. Grover muttered calmly in his sleep, curled into a tight ball. Annabeth smiled to herself and rested her cheek against Reagan's head as she drifted back to sleep.