Time and Time Again [Discontinued?]

17: Training Assessment

Nico blocked it using the baton and with the curve of the shield, followed through, hitting Steve hard enough on his chest to make him stumble backward. "Nice." Steve commented. Nico just nodded once before rushing towards Steve.

Steve stood his ground then at the last minute, side-stepped and hit Nico lightly on the back with the front of his shield, making Nico stumble and fall. "That's not from the military, is it?" Nico said, picking himself up. Steve shrugged. "Well, fighting a bunch of aliens and modern Nazis helped me pick up a few tricks."

The two sparred for a few more minutes until Steve knocked Nico off his feet and pinned him down, shield to Nico's chest. "Good spar." Said Nico, breathing a bit heavily. Steve stood back up and offered his hand for Nico to take. "Likewise." Nico accepted the offer and they both sat down on the bench with Jason and Tony.

"God, I hate training." Said Tony, groaning and mopping up his sweat with a towel. Jason nudged Nico and gestured towards Tony, whispering, "He's really weak." in Latin. Nico chuckled, making Tony and Steve look over in confusion.

"Wait a second, you guys look really familiar all of a sudden. Were you guys at a 7-11?" Said Tony out of the blue. Nico and Jason looked at each other before shrugging simultaneously. "Yeah, it was us." Answered Jason.

"You were also the kid who had the..." Steve trailed off, glancing at Tony before continuing. ""cat fight", right?" Nico exhaled in relief before nodding. "Was that the cat fight you saw when you were buying groceries?" Asked Tony, to which Steve nodded yes.

"Clint told you?"

"Yup."

Speaking of, Clint and Percy approached the bench they were on and each took a towel on the bench beside them. "Who won?" Asked Steve. Clint groaned before pointing at Percy, who was pointing at himself proudly.

"Good job, Percy." Commended Jason. "I'm not the best mid-range fighter at camp for nothing." Percy said proudly. "Camp?" Questioned Clint.

The three teenagers stayed silent for a few seconds until Nico spoke up. "It's a summer camp but you can be an all-rounder. They have martial arts programs at camp if you wanna learn." The three Avengers at the bench all looked intrigued about this camp of theirs. If only they knew...

"Sounds like a camp I would've gone to as a kid." Said Steve, Clint nodding along. "Sounds like a fun place." Commented Tony. "It is. One of the best." Said Percy, sneaking a glance at Jason who looked slightly offended. "It also sells strawberries to fancy restaurants. One of the best strawberries I've ever had." Said Jason, still offended by the earlier comment.

"Might order from them if they're that good. Your camp got a name?" Asked Tony, pulling out a tablet and a stylus from gods know where. "Delphi's Strawberry Farm." Said Grover, who was finished awkwardly sparring with Bruce.

"G-man! Took you long enough. I saw that awkward baton hitting you were doing." Said Percy, slinging an arm over Grover's shoulder. "It's hard to spar with a limp, alright?" Said Grover, sitting in Percy's old spot.

"Speaking of, I'd like to ask if you're willing to show me the limp. I can ask one of the actual doctors here to do a check-up." Said Bruce, grabbing a water bottle from a nearby cooler. "But, aren't you that kind of doctor?" Asked Tony with a smirk, clearly anticipating Bruce's response.

Bruce sighed, clearly exasperated. "No, Tony. I'm not that kind of doctor. Yes, I have 7 PhDs but none of them are an MD." He said the last part before Tony even opened his mouth. "Fine fine, I'll stop pissing you off." Said Tony in a mock surrender.

"Hey boys." Greeted Annabeth, grabbing Percy's towel. "I- C'mon. Really? First my seat, now my towel, what's next, my baton?" Said Percy, flailing around his baton in a way that it was expressive but wouldn't hit anyone. "Yeah, actually. You gotta return it." Said Nat, pointing to the box where the batons were put in.

"Well shit." Said Percy, going towards the box. "Language." Said Steve, making Nico stare at him, a look of confusion on his face. "Okay, Mr. Star man. You're just like Hazel..." Said Percy, whispering the last part.

"Please, he's worse." Said Nico in Ancient Greek, making the other camp inhabitants looks at him. "How would you know?" Asked Annabeth. "I just do, he's from the 40s, remember?" Nico said back. "He kinda looks like the kid in your compass." Said Jason absentmindedly in Latin.

"What kid?" Asked Nat in English. The teenagers looked at her confused. "I speak Latin, if you needed an explanation." Said Nat. "Yeah, back to her question. What kid?" Said Bruce.

"Answer us first, did you hear anything besides the Latin part?" Asked Grover. When she shook her head, Nico and Annabeth took a small sigh of relief. "It's just a kid I met before going to camp for the first time." Explained Nico. It seemed to satisfy the adults so they moved on from the subject.

"Well, next test is long range but based on what Percy told me, none of you are particularly good at that." Percy glanced at his teammates before saying, "What? It's true! None of us are as good of a shot as Kyan!" For context, Kyan is a child of Apollo. At camp, they're the #2 best shot. #1 is Fiel, one of the calmer daughters of Ares.

"You're lucky you're right." Said Grover, punching him on the shoulder lightly. "Well, you guys can talk amongst yourselves, assess our skills, and we'll do the same." Said Steve.

The two groups separated and for a few minutes, the groups talked before converging on the bench once more.

"Well, you guys can go first." Said Bruce. "Ok then. Well, some of you are really weak in terms of fighting, specifically two people in this group. Other than that, you'd make a good match for us. If we were ever to team up." Said Annabeth, explaining for her group. During the explanation of their assessment, one of them was offended, the other just shrugged it off.

"Well, for us, you guys are really good. Too good for children. And we think you'd be a good fit in the team." Said Steve, trying to ignore the chaos that is Nat stopping Tony from making dramatic gasps.

"Well, that's training done. We can lend you guys some clothes so go get cleaned up, and we'll give you a tour. If you're wondering who's touring you, it'll be whoever you sparred with." Explained Bruce, who was starting to walk towards the frosted doors.

Grover raised a hand, making everyone turn to him."Uh, who's clothes are we borrowing?"

Word count: 1827 words
Writer's block you little shi- I forgot! Thanks to GeekyDarkPoet  for the whole Nico's a "mindreader" thing.