A Game of Gods and Grit (PJO/MCU Crossover)

Chapter Three

"Hey, Gerard Way," Tony Stark looked at Loki, then nodded his head at Percy. "Who's your friend?"

Loki had no idea who or what Gerard Way was, but Percy seemed to catch the reference, because Loki saw his lips twitch up. He elected to ask Percy about it as soon as possible.

"This is Percy. I believe he may be able to help us find Loki's sceptre," Thor said. "He was his cellmate, you see."

"So we have to babysit two criminals now?" Clint Barton looked at Thor, Percy and Loki incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"

"Don't fret, Barton. Loki has magic restrictors and Percy has a shocker. There's no way they can be difficult or escape," Thor explained, pressing a button on the remote he had, making the handcuffs Percy and Loki were both wearing retract to their original bracelet forms. Percy wrung his hands and cracked his knuckles, whereas Loki raised his eyebrows slightly in thanks to Thor.

"Okay, sounds good," Stark nodded. Then, one by one, each Avenger introduced themselves to Percy. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton and Steve Rogers. Percy didn't reply, scanning them carefully the way he did when faced with anyone or anything unfamiliar to him for any threats. He simply stared them down- none of them could meet his eyes. Loki understood how that felt- his friend's resting face, before you knew him well, was probably the most intimidating thing he'd ever seen. Tony looked at Loki. "Not a talker, huh?"

"He can be rather difficult to win over," he admitted.

"Ah," the billionaire nodded understandably. "Well, welcome to the team, Percy. We should get you both to your rooms, let you settle in."

Percy and Loki had rooms directly across the hall from each other and, after looking at them for a few moments, they were suddenly on what Tony Stark was calling 'a grand tour.' All the bedrooms were on the same corridor around the corner from the living room, dining room and kitchen. Each one had it's own bathroom.

On the floor below there was a huge gym that included an Olympic-sized swimming pool which made Percy's eyes twinkle excitedly upon seeing it. There were several other facilities such as laboratories, an infirmary, workshops, offices for each Avenger and a few more to spare, a conference room, a penthouse where Stark threw his parties, et cetera. Apparently there were due to be many parties if you happened to be an Avenger. When told this, Loki got quite nervous- after all, the last time he'd been to a party on Midgard, he'd gouged an innocent man's eye out.

Percy seemed a bit unsettled and very silent throughout the whole tour of the tower, so Loki lowered his tone and looked at him seriously. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he nodded, whispering is well. "It's just I don't do too well with heights."

"Why is that?"

Percy remained silent, pretending not to hear him. Loki knew very little about Percy's past, other than the fact he was Midgardian, was extremely close with his father and that and it contained a girl called Annabeth. He had wanted to ask for a while now, but it never exactly came up. For someone Loki considered his friend, he really didn't know all that much about him before his imprisonment.

Anyway, a while after the tour, the Avengers were sitting around a table in the lounge. Percy hadn't spoken a word in over an hour, despite the endless chatting of the team. Loki would speak occasionally- the odd sarcastic comment about his brother, sometimes an insult directed a few people. The usual. Percy, meanwhile, was sitting very still and quiet apart from the constant bobbing-up-and-down of his leg, a habit Loki had noticed many times before. It was like Percy always had to be moving, always had to be fidgeting with something.

"So, this sceptre," Percy said, cutting into the conversation, startling everyone, even Loki. "What is it and why is it so important?"

"He speaks!" Barton exclaimed, grinning. Percy, meanwhile, rolled his eyes. To anyone else, he looked unamused, though Loki could see the small twinkle in his eyes that showed he had, in fact, found it funny.