For My Love (Percy Jackson/Avengers Crossover)

CHAPTER 1: PERCY

The smoke covered my mouth, my eyes, my face, choking the air out of me and blocking me from seeing the attack. When my vision cleared, the ground seemed to crawl beneath my feet, stained with crimson and mounds which ebbed and waned in my vision. I laughed, the motion underneath me making me feel dizzy, and I landed on the floor, head slamming backwards into the stained blades of grass. Spirits pulled at my hair, tearing at my scalp and screaming at me although they made no sound. A deafening silence settled upon the air, eerie shadows flitting through the grey and cold landscape. Who were they? Were they here for me, to take me to the Fields of Punishment because I'd led so many demigods to their deaths? Or back down to the worst place in all the worlds? Tartarus?

Even the thought of it conjured up the smell of sulphur and beast-like roars that I associated with the Pit. And the crippling fear started seeping into my bones, the one that left you feeling cold in a place that was on fire. A loud bang, like an object collapsing to the ground, echoed around me.

"Po-eese!" Muffled voices reverberated as if travelling through water, as if I was floundering under the sea, unable to breathe in an element that was almost my own. Cool hands pressed into my neck and I flinched away, Gabe was back to finish me off. He'd tried to choke me many times before, as a warning, pressing his cigarette butts into the exposed flesh of my stomach as I tried to twist out of his grip. Well, I wouldn't let him, Mom needed me to be her brave little man. I struck out, expect to hit the soft flesh of his pudgy stomach, fat from too many beers, yet I came into contact with solely air.

"He... Pulse... weak... severe blood loss... anxious" The voices were back. Taunting me because I was trapped in the water, I couldn't get out. I didn't know how to swim anymore. I was stuck and no one was there to save me. Is this how I was going to die? Alone in the world, destroyed by the man who had killed my parents. I didn't want to die. I was 17. But then again demigods never lived long, happy lives. Look at Theseus, his father's wife sent him on a death quest and tried to poison him when he returned successful. I felt myself be lifted up and the gentle rocking as I was carried reassured me, allowing myself to let my eyes droop closed into a world fraught with nightmares.

I woke up to a harsh white light in my eyes, a persistent beeping punctuating the otherwise silent room. Sitting up, a sudden bought of dizziness sent me reeling as I swayed, body sinking into the pillows by my head. A nurse rushed in, holding a tray of food which he balanced on the bedside table.

"Hello Perseus, how are you feeling?"

I shrugged, fingers clenching onto the mattress beneath me in order to root myself. My head was pounding and there was a persistent dull pain in my leg.

"'M alright. Where's Lizzy?" I glanced around to see if I could see my little sister anywhere. I was still too drowsy for any real panic to set in but it was weird not knowing where she was. Ever since she had learned to crawl, you had to keep an eye on her, else she'd pull things over and escape.

"She's just down the hall in the day ward, as we needed to make sure that the event left no strong psychological damage as it could impact her development," the nurse replied, "now, are you sure you don't want any paracetamol or codeine? We patched up your leg alright but you lost quite a lot of blood so you might be feeling dizzy."

Slumping further into the cushions, I nodded. "Yeah, painkillers sound great. But can I see my sister please?"

My voice was scratchy and I coughed, my throat burning from dehydration. Swiftly, the nurse passed me over the glass of water and I gulped it down eagerly, feeling the sensation of the cool liquid rushing down my throat and relieving the heat.

"I'll see what I can do."

With that he exited the room and I was left with a plate of soggy mashed potato, a lump of green mush which I soon found out were mushy peas and a dry slice of beef. Not the most appetizing of meals. But I hadn't eaten in 24 hours and I was starving. My stomach rumbled at the sight of food, even if it was one of the most disgusting meals I had ever seen. Digging in, I wrinkled my nose at the tasteless and stale food but soon finished it which left me plenty of time to think about everything. What had the hallucinations meant? Did they mean anything? I'd had dreams before and dismissed them simply as dreams but they turned out to be true, but never a hallucination. Surely it was just the blood loss, the nurse had mentioned that and it was plausible. I had seen kids after a battle in the medical centre, screaming about something coming after them, their limb bandaged up tightly but still they screamed.

Those kids were not much older than 10.

What was the life of a demigod worth if it caused so much pain? If only the gods could keep it in their pants for once. Sure, I wouldn't have been alive but my mom wouldn't have had to marry Gabe. She wouldn't have been killed by someone who was clearly after me and. Gods. It was all my fault she was dead. My fault her chance a starting a new, normal family was shattered into pieces as her and Paul's bodies lay slumped on their bed. Lizzy was going to hate me once she grew up and learned the truth. That I hadn't been alert enough to protect them and someone had come after me and got her parents instead.

The nurse returned, holding Lizzy, and he seemed surprised to se that I had managed to finish the food. Upon seeing her, I realised how much my thoughts had twisted my image of her in my head, she was an angel and she needed me. This was evident in the way that she started gurgling happily when she saw, twisting in the nurse's arms to try and get to me. The nurse passed her over to me, cooing at her.

"I got you your painkillers but I'll just grab some water to help you swallow them," he said, busying himself.

"Yeah, thanks... Sorry I never asked for your name?" I sighed at my social imbroglio; mom had taught me better than that.

The nurse walked back over and flashed me a grin, white teeth stark against a tan complexion and I smiled back unconsciously.

"I'm Sean, here take these. The codeine works best with paracetamol so I'll get you to take both, it'll help best with the pain."

I took both the pills, chugging down the glass of water as Lizzy watched, entranced by my Adam's apple bobbing up and down. Placing the glass on the table, I picked up Lizzy under the arms and lifted her high as she giggled.

"She's adorable," Sean commented, "how old is she?"

"11 months, her birthday is quite soon actually and I'd love to throw a party for her and her playgroup friends but I'm sure it would be more for me than for her. It's not like she'll remember it!" I laughed, brushing an eyelash off her cheek.

"But you'll make an important memory in her growing up. Also, she'll get to try cake for the first time, which is always hilarious. When my cousin had it for the first time, she got so excited that she ended up smashing her face into the cake," he joked, eliciting a chuckle from me.

"True, true," I turned my face towards him, not realising how close we were and flushing at our proximity as he leaned forward to tickle at her chin.

A knock at the door interrupted us and I rested my head back against the wall in utter exhaustion. Two men walked in and flashed their badges to the nurse, they were broad-shouldered and wore bullet proof vests and a light blue shirt. The police had arrived.