A different kind of super family

Chapter 8, alrighty then...

AN: Batman's fault! Disclaimer applies as do the warnings for my many, many errors.
Any ideas, feel free to message me or comment. Thank you to all the support.
A bit of Tony and Percy bonding.

Percy's POV:
I couldn't go back to sleep. Not with the dreams and torture waiting for me.
It was 2:13 in the morning and I wouldn't dare to close my eyes. Every time I did it was torture, both physically and mentally. The worst were when it's just Annabeth and I, and she cries about how I betrayed her and let her down, and I can do nothing to stop it.
I sat crosslegged on the floor, wide awake with tears streaming silently down my face. I was exhausted but I was scared to even blink at the moment. All the shadows seemed to creep up on me and constantly remind me of my time in Tartarus, only this time, I haven't got my wise girl. Every noise sounds like screams to me and I can't stop myself from shaking. Eventually, I can't stand to stay in my room, so I stand up and shakily walk to the sitting room. I would go to the pool, but in my shaky state, I don't think I could walk all the way there. I curl my self up on the sofa and begin to cry softly to myself. The walls seem to close around me and the air becomes thick and hard to breath. I feel like I'm back in Tartarus. Back with him.
It's not real. It's not real. I whisper to myself in my head until I find myself saying it aloud quietly. But the feelings don't fade, instead they seem to increase. The air seems to burn as it passes through the my quick moving lungs, and the my body sweats from the heat. I can't bare to be back here, even it is just my imagination. I can't survive it again with out Annabeth. Without her love, I could never have survived Tartarus.

Tony's POV:
I woke up and found that I was really thirsty. It wasn't a rare occasion that this happened since I always forgot to bring a glass of water to bed.
I climbed out of my haven of blankets and walked towards the kitchen. I walked past the sitting room door, but then froze as I heard a noise.
I slowly edged in, ready to call by suit and the rest of the avengers if I needed too. But what I saw instead, broke my heart. Percy was curled up in a ball on one of the couches, silently shaking with sobs. I immediately dropped my guard and rushed to his side.
"Shhh..... Percy, what's the matter?" I whisper and his shaking seems to ease a little. He looks up with red eyes and I see how broken he is.
"I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't m-mean to w-wake you." He stutters and I shake my head.
"No Percy. You didn't wake me up, but I wish you had. If you needed help you should have come got me. Now what's the matter?" I say pulling him into a hug. He sniffs and his breathing hitches but he slowly calms down.
"It's nothing, I'm sorry." He says and tries to pull away, but I pull him right back.
"It's not nothing, Perce. Explain. Please." I say and he lets out a sigh and burrows his head in his hands.
"I just had a nightmare. I've had them before." He says.
"Then what made this one different? What was it about?"
I ask and he lets out a shaky sigh.
"Annabeth was yelling at me for letting her die and wouldn't let me help. She kept saying she hated me a-and then when I woke up.... I-it felt like I was in T-Tar-Tartarus again. I came out here but it felt real, except this time, I didn't have Annabeth there to help me." He says and starts to shake with quiet sobs. I pull him into a hug and let him cry on my shoulder.
"Shh... Perce it's okay. Your not there anymore." I whisper reassuringly. He continues to shake but the crying slowly starts to decrease. I gently rub circles into the broken boys back. He calms down and lifts his head and looks at me with regret filled eyes.
"I'm sorry." He says and I hear the pain in his voice.
"What for? You have absolutely nothing to be apologising for. Other than maybe getting my shirt wet." I say the last bit with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. He smiles a little but then shakes his head.
"I do. I have everything to be apologising for. I've gotten you all wrapped up in my mess and ladened you with my problems. You have all done so much for me but I don't deserve it. I should have died in the place of my friends, or of my parents. I live every day apologising because that's all I can do. I can't fix my mistakes because they've already happened, and that fact tortures me more than even Tartarus can. I don't deserve you, or the rest of the avengers, or any of this. I'm not the hero people think I am." He says quietly but by the end has his head in his hands.
I stare at the boy in front of me with tears in my own eyes. Then I wipe my face with a feeling of determination. I won't let him think like that.
"No Percy. Your wrong. You do deserve all this and you are a hero. We love having you here and we all want to help you in anyway we can. Nothing that happened was your fault and whether you like it or not, you will continue to be Percy Jackson the hero, because your friends and family would have expected nothing less." I say firmly and he looks up in surprise. I gently pull him against my side and ease myself into a more comfortable position. He lets out a sigh and closes his eyes and I show a small smile at the teen below me. I almost think he's fallen asleep, but his voice then comes. His eyes remain closed but I know he's talking to me.
"My fatal flaw is loyalty. Did you know that?" He asks quietly. And I sit up a little.
"No. What's a fatal flaw?" I ask and he sighs, his eyes remaining closed.
"Every powerful demigod has one. It's there weakness. Normally it's something like pride or a craving for power. But not me. I got loyalty. I will always protect those who gain my friendship. That's what made their deaths so much worse. I would have traded myself for anyone of them without a seconds thought but I never got the chance and I couldn't save them. Not even Annabeth." He says quietly and my heart breaks. I can't imagine the pain he's going through.
"Oh Percy..." I sigh and pull his now crying eyes even closer to me. His eyes remain shut and after a few minutes his breath evens out and he falls asleep. Slowly I feel my own eyes start to slip shut and I too, fall asleep.

Natasha's POV:
I woke up early in the morning, got changed then walked towards the kitchen to start breakfast for when the boys woke up. I walked into the living room to find both Percy and Tony cuddled up, asleep on one of the couches. A smile broke out onto my face and I carefully got out my stark phone - courtesy of Tony - and took a photo. I then silently walked past and went into the kitchen to make the food.
The others trickled in over the next twenty minutes but Tony and Percy remained asleep on the couch and none of us were willing to disturb them. We had all noticed the dark circles and red puffiness under Percy's eyes, and we all smiled a little at the affection Tony was giving his nephew.
At last, we decided it was time to wake up the two of them for breakfast. We also realised it would probably be best if I did it because apparently 'Tony is less likely to hit a girl because he got woken up'. So I crept over to the couch and decided Tony was the one to do first.  I gently shook him and said his name until his eyes opened. He looked confused for a minute until he seemed to remember what had happened. Surprisingly, he didn't start to yell about being woken up, but instead quickly checked on Percy with a sympathetic and worried look on his unshaven face.
I was about to reach and wake Percy but Tony shook his head.
"Don't wake him. He didn't get much sleep so just leave him. Can you help get him of me, but do it gently to keep his asleep." He whispered. I nodded and gently supported Percy's sleeping form as Tony slid out from underneath him. Once Tony was stood up, we gently layers an exhausted Percy back on the couch and covered him with a blanket. Tony and I then walked into the kitchen and Clint set a plate of food in front of Tony and he thanked him.
"Where's Perseus?" Thor asked.
"Asleep. We're leaving him to get some much needed rest. He had a rough night." Tony answered and I sat down by Tony.
"What exactly happened last night?" I ask and Tony lets out a long sigh and rubs his forehead.
"He needs more help than he will ever say or even except." He says and starts to briefly tell us what happened. I just hope Percy's okay.