Annabeth woke with a start. She glanced around, trying to get her bearings. It's ok, she thought, I'm with Grover and Percy. Grover was passed out a few feet away, but the sun told her it was mid morning. Percy was keeping watch at the window, Annabeth gazed at him for a moment. Even when he was spacing out his eyes were thoughtful, and he rested his head against the window.

Annabeth realized that this was the safest she'd felt since the game began, which was absurd at this point. She could be dead in a day. Still, she let herself look at Percy a moment longer before getting up.

"Anything interesting happening?" Annabeth said, her voice sounded tight.

Percy turned and smiled at her. "Not unless you count the thirty six leaves that have blown down this street."

Annabeth joined him at the window. "You've been counting?"

"I'm bored."

"Imminent danger isn't interesting enough for you?"

Percy quirked his eyebrows. "Nope. Unless I'm really about to die, I'm not interested."

"I'll keep that in mind," Annabeth said. Percy stood, wincing as he did so. Annabeth frowned. "Are you injured?"

"Not really." He lifted his shirt revealing a patch of multicolored bruising on his side. "It's just from the building collapse."

Almost without thinking, Annabeth reached out and ran her fingers lightly over his ribs. He flinched away from her touch, but the look in his eyes was beyond physical pain, it was almost fearful. Annabeth had seen that look before, when kids at school would show up with red marks on their faces or bruises on their backs. Suddenly her chest hurt for Percy, what he might have endured.

Percy matched her gaze for a moment, then looked down.

"So, uh, what do you know about Charles Bekendorf?"

Annabeth frowned. "We ran into him and Silena when Reyna killed Leo. They built this net that trapped us. The guy is huge and good at making things, but I think he'd do anything for Silena." She paused a moment. "That's about his only weakness. Are you thinking about going after him?"

"He collapsed a building on us. I don't want him around when the fighting starts."

When the fighting starts. That sent a little chill down Annabeth's spine. They could both feel it then, the games were coming to their end.

"Then let's take him down," Annabeth said hollowly.

"This is what we know," Annabeth said. Percy and Grover sat on the floor, giving Annabeth the ridiculous feeling that she was their teacher. "Bekendorf expected all three of you to die in the explosion, but as he now knows, only one of you did. If I were him, I would want to finish the job because he knows we would come after him. I also think he knows where we are, or if he doesn't it won't be hard to find us. You two left quite the trail of ash and cinders here."

"We just had a building dropped in us," Grover protested, "that wasn't exactly our priority."

Annabeth held up her hands in a placating gesture. "I know. And that's a good thing because it will lead him right here where we will be waiting. With like, weapons and stuff."

Percy nodded. "That seems reasonable. But how do even know he'll show up? What if he just tosses a bomb and blows us all up."

"That," Annabeth said, "is why we'll have a lookout. Someone up here to watch and make sure that doesn't happen."

Grover and Percy exchanged glances.

"Sounds good," Percy said. "Let's do it."

Annabeth and Percy were stationed on either side of the door, hidden but ready to spring. Grover was the lookout because he could go up and down the stairs the fastest. Annabeth was prepared for the terror, but not the boredom of waiting. As the hours ticked by she let her thoughts run wild. Where Piper was, wondering when or even if Charles and Silena were going to show, and as always, she replayed Reyna's death in her mind. Over and over again. The blood, the scream, the mutt's eyes. Annabeth wrenched her thoughts away from that to focus on Percy.

He smiled nervously at her, fingers tapping his leg. Then his expression went slack. And Annabeth heard what he heard. Footsteps approaching.

Annabeth barely dared to breathe. She went over the plan she and Percy made. Since he was physically bigger, he'd go after Bekendorf. Annabeth would take down Silena. Simple.

The door creaked open, and a massive frame blocked the sunlight. Definitely Bekendorf.

"C'mon," Bekendorf whispered, "let's make this quick."

Annabeth was wound as tightly as a spring, ready to pounce. And as soon as Silena came in the door, she did.

Annabeth full-body tackled Silena, sending both of them sprawling while Percy leaped out at Bekendorf. Annabeth and Silena grappled for a moment, but it was clear Annabeth was stronger and had better technique. With Silena momentarily pinned, Annabeth risked a glance at Percy. A bloody slash ran across Bekendorf's chest, but Percy had lost the element of surprise. Still, Percy was fast and seemed to be holding his own, his knife was almost long enough to be a sword, giving him extra reach. Bekendorf was armed with a large metal pipe.

Annabeth drew her own knife, a lump of dread settling into her stomach. She knew she was going to have to kill someone eventually. But she never considered actually doing it.

"Please don't," whispered Silena, still struggling underneath her, "I don't want to die."

Annabeth felt like her insides were being microwaved. Her knife hand shook as she brought it up. She looked down at Silena, saw the terror in her eyes. I can do this, Annabeth thought. But she couldn't. Not with her eyes open. So she closed them, took a deep breath, and plunged her knife down into Silena's chest.

Silena's blood was sticky. It coated the knife and Annabeth's hand, and with a silent scream Annabeth tore her gaze away. She heard Bekendorf yell to Silena, saw him turn and watched Percy's knife pierce his chest. He fell to his knees, then to the floor. Bekendorf's blood mixing with Silena's, mixing with the blood on Annabeth's hand. Her vision turned red with it and she threw up against the wall for the second time in two days. Two cannons fired in quick succession. The tributes from district ten were dead.

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, the same guilt mixed with revulsion reflected. Without thinking, Annabeth walked to Percy and threw her arms around him, felt his come up to embrace her too. She buried her head in his neck, and felt him trembling with her. Then Grover came sprinting down the last flight of stairs and they broke apart.

"Are you guys okay?" he said breathlessly. "I heard the cannons on my way down and I wasn't sure..." he trailed off when he saw the bodies. "Nevermind. I guess you are."

Percy and Annabeth locked eyes again. They both knew they weren't. But all Percy said was, "yeah, I guess we are." And the three of them caught their breath together.