Shards (A Percy Jackson and Avengers Crossover)

How to (Not) Be a God 101

"It is done."
"I am sorry it had to turn out this way, boy."
"No, not a boy any longer."
"A god."

Beep!
Beep!
Beep!

Percy stirred, groaning. He hissed.
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

Percy eyes flickered open. He shifted propping himself up on one arm. Well, he attempted to, at least.

Everything hurts.

Beep!
Beep!
Beep!

Percy glanced up. There was some type of machine, along with a bunch of wires and other techie gadget thingies.

I've gotta pee.

With that one dominating thought, he raised his head up. The world spun. He plopped back on the couch.

On second thought, maybe I can wait a while.

A long while.

The door creaked open, and the slap of shoe on floor echoed across the room. He turned his head and managed a weak grin. "Hey, Bruce."

The exhausted doctor smiled back at him. "Glad to see you're awake, Percy. We were scared you weren't gonna make it."

Bruce leaned backwards through the door and hollered. "He's awake."

Percy grimaced at the sound. Bruce sent him an apologetic grin.

Pounding feet and yelling echoed through the hallway. The Avengers crashed through the doorway. Percy sighed. He didn't think they quite understood that only one person can fit through the doorway at once.

"Percy!"

He grimaced again at the racket, but then smiled as he saw Nico and Thalia casually walking in after the rambunctious heroes.

Guess they're used to this.

Even though they were, as Percy said, used to this, they were still relieved to see Percy alive and semi-functional. A sharp sound cut through the den of noise. Everyone winced and turned toward Natasha. Tony gave a whistle of his own. "Wow, Nat. Didn't know you could whistle like that."

The assassin ignored the impressed billionaire and stepped toward Percy. "How you feeling, Percy?"

Percy sent her a weak smile. "I've been better." He cocked his head thoughtfully. "And worse. Much, much worse."

Natasha cracked a smile. "I'm sure you have."

"Percy."

The halfblood turned to Thalia. "Yeah?"

She frowned and walked over to his bed. The archer placed a hand on his arm. "You seem. . . ," she hesitated, "different."

Percy coughed and suddenly found the gray floor very interesting.

"Percy," Thalia growled, her hand tightening.

Percy sighed.

And there goes the sweet, caring Thalia. Almost dying bought me less than a minute of Thalia's sympathy. Figures. I'm actually a little shocked I got any.

Thor stepped out, a frown marring his face. "Your aura has changed."

Sea-green eyes flickered from demigod archer to thunder god. "I. . . yeah." Percy swallowed, trying to remedy his dry throat. "I'm a god."

Silence. Complete and utter silence.

No one moved. Percy wasn't even sure they were breathing.

"Ugh . . ." Percy doubled over, coughing. His ribcage felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside.

The hacking seemed to break the moment. Bruce rushed over, patting his back. "Breath."

Percy inhaled sharply.

"In. Out. In. Out."

His coughing fit died away, and Bruce helped him lay back down. The doctor turned to the other occupants.

"We should let him rest." They nodded, slightly hesitant, and moved to walk out.

"Wait."

At the sound of the raven-haired demigod's hoarse voice, everyone turned back around.

"I think I should explain."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So," Tony started, "you're a god."

Percy nodded.

Everyone was quiet.

"So," the inventor started again, "you're like immortal and really powerful and all that stuff?"

Percy stared at the ground, but slowly nodded.

"That's amazing!" Tony shouted. He stopped at the look on the demigod's face. ". . . or not?"

Nico's sharp inhale drew everyone's attention. "Annabeth." His soft whisper was heard by all in the room. Thalia's stone face meant she had realized it too.

Percy flinched, clasping his hands tightly together to stop the shaking. "Y-yeah," he stuttered quietly.

The Avengers seemed to be in varying degrees of confusion. Thor looked like a lightbulb went off in his head. "Oh."

Percy hunched over even further. Tears blurred his vision. At the sight of the crying teen, Tony walked over and crouched down, putting his hand on Percy's back. "Hey. Hey. It's ok. It'll all be okay." Tony had no clue what was wrong, or what he was promising would be okay, but he knew that the kid need comfort and that was all that mattered.

Percy sobbed loudly and put his hands to his face. "I'm n-never gonna s-see her again." His words were muffled, but the room seemed to understand the gist of it.

Thalia was at his side in an instant. She wrapped him in a hug, and let him slump into her. "I know. I know." She stroked his hair, the pain in her eyes echoed by his sobs. She knew it was going to be a while before she saw Annabeth, but she also knew that she would eventually be killed in battle and, hopefully, sent to Elysium. Thalia would probably see Annabeth again. Percy wasn't going to be as lucky.

Percy nestled further into Thalia's embrace, a little shocked at the tender touch.

It seemed sweet, caring Thalia was back again. All it took was almost dying, becoming an immortal god, and losing the love of his life forever. Who knew?

Everyone else shifted uncomfortably. Nico stared at the ground. He clenched his hands. At every sob, the anger in his chest grew bigger and bigger. He knew it wasn't just Annabeth Percy wouldn't ever see again. He'd never see any of the Seven or his family or any of his other deceased friends (which was a large number--especially after this last war).

Nico gritted his teeth. The gods just couldn't take no for an answer. He didn't care if it was the Fates themselves that made Percy a god. This was literally a fate worse than death, and they knew it.

Percy's crying slowly died away. He shifted away from Thalia with a grateful look. He wiped his eyes and glanced around. Everyone avoided his eyes and tried to look like they hadn't heard any of his crying. Which, ironically, made it even more apparent.

Percy coughed lightly. "I think I need some sleep." His hoarse voice shocked even him.

Steve cleared his throat. "Right."

Everyone started filing out (thankfully one at a time). "You get some sleep." Steve paused at the doorway. He was the last out. "If you need anything, we'll be here." He slipped out, the door closing quietly behind him.

Percy took a deep, shuddering breath. He stared at the door and soaked in the silence. He knew they meant well, but no amount of talking or pity could fix this. He turned his back to the door and lied down.

Get some sleep, he said.

Yeah, right.

And that's a wrap! Don't forget to like and comment! Peace out!