"Hey, Rebekah?" Percy says.
"Yeah?" She asks, looking up with a smile.
He looks angry.
Her smile drops.
He sits down across from her and makes a gesture.
"What?" She asks.
He points behind her, and she turns to see Leo walking towards them. "What's up?" He asks.
Percy makes another gesture, and Leo sits beside her.
"What's wrong?" Rebekah demands. "Perseus Jackson, you tell me right now, or I swear."
"Nico's dead." Percy says.
"What?" You and Leo both say.
Percy explains something, but you don't catch a word of it.
Her brother can't be dead.
He's the son of Hades, for Zeus' sake! He can't be dead.
Percy gets up and puts a hand on her shoulder as he walks away, snapping her from her reverie. He goes over and wraps his arms around Annabeth.
"Come on, babe. Let's go." Leo tells her quietly.
She gets up and follows him.
She doesn't cry until they get to their apartment in New Rome.
Leo catches her as she starts to drop to her knees.
"It's okay, babe. You're okay."
She shakes her head, sobbing. She isn't okay.
He swoops her up and carries her bridal style to the couch, sitting with her on his lap. He wraps his arms around her and rocks back and forth, smoothing her hair down and kissing her forehead.
She doesn't speak to anybody for a couple of days, and Leo stays with her.
He's in the shower when the doorbell rings one day, though, so she gets up to answer it.
Halfway there, she changes her mind and turns back around.
If they wanted to come back, they could, but she wasn't dealing with them by herself.
The doorbell rang again.
She went to knock on the bathroom door. "Leo? Someone's here."
"Okay?"
"I don't wanna talk to them."
"So don't open the door."
"They've rung the bell three times--and they did it again."
"Hang on, I'm coming."
She goes down the hallway to peak around the corner. She waits in the hallway, just in case whoever it was decided to let themselves in. That way she has an easy hiding place--slipping into the bedroom.
Leo emerged seconds later, steam from the hot shower pouring out the door. He's jumping, trying to pull on pants and walk at the same time. His hair's dripping.
She follows him out of the hall and he goes to open the door. She waits in the living room.
"Holy shizzlesticks." Leo says.
"Why are you half naked with my sister?"
Is that Nico?
"Oh, well, we're married, so it's okay, buddy. But, well, you see--" Leo begins.
She gets up and half runs to the door to see Nico standing outside.
"Nico di Angelo!" Rebekah yells. "You complete asshole! I will kill you!"
Leo grabs her as she runs at her brother. "Whoa, there, babe. You just got him back, you don't want him dead again already."
"I'm sorry." Nico says.
Leo lets her go when she starts crying, and she tackles her brother against the wall in a hug. She pulls back and smacks his arm. "I can't believe you!" She hugs him again.
"Feeling okay?" Leo asks that night, twirling his fingers in her hair.
"Yeah." She smiles.
"No longer feeling murderous?"
"Nope." She laughs.
"Cool. I didn't really wanna go to sleep with the risk of you killing me."
"Shut up."
"I love you." He kisses the top of her head.
"Yeah, I know." She smiles sweetly up at him.
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@TheWeasleyJoker