"Sir, are you sure about this? He's just a boy..."
The Agent in question was already hesitant in accepting this mission before he even knew what his target was. He normally didn't do recall or surveillance and he wasn't used to having a partner. He was a Specialist, and so was his younger partner and this was not their typical mission. They took out targets, not children.
Both of them had been called in by Agent Coulson, expecting to receive a solo mission of some type or an undercover operation. Instead, they were met by a small team of Specialists and Ground Agents, all of them surprised and confused. They had been gathered in a room together and told to wait. It was an awkward experience, the Specialists grouped towards each other as the Ground Agents looked at them with awe and fear. An encounter he did not want a repeat of. It wasn't until Agent Coulson came in that everyone spoke.
All of the members gathered were given a medium sized file, rather small for a SHEILD assignment and were split into groups. The Specialists were a tag team; four agents split into two, one team supporting and covering the other. The Ground Agents were alone, either doing research or another type of recon.
"Are you questioning your orders Phillips?" Agent Phillips didn't miss the look his partner, Agent Adams, gave him from the corner of his eye. The younger man was laying stomach down on the rooftop, positioned behind a silenced Cheytac .480 cal Rifle. He glanced away from his scope, his face apprehensive as Agent Phillips served as his spotter, both hearing the warning tone coming through their comm links.
"Agent Phillips has a point sir. We've never been assigned a mission like this before. He's not even 18 yet..." The worried voice of a female Ground Agent broke through, blocking off whatever Agent Coulson was going to say next. Everyone listening to this frequency could feel the tension, anticipating an oncoming conflict. Nothing about this mission felt right.
Agent Coulson sighed. He knew there would be some doubt but it seems like the whole team was hesitant. "He is a prime target and while he is still a boy, he as avoided SHELD's radar for nearly a decade and has been linked to several terrorist events and is suspected to be a terrorist himself. I do not care what your doubts are. He's the mission. Take him in alive. If he's an enemy, good. We can get intel form him. If he's innocent, we interrogate and release him. Understood?"
None of the Agents missed the steel in his voice. Agents Phillip and Adams swallowed before they let out a reluctant, "Yes sir." The comms went silent again, the two snipers and their spotters scanning the New York traffic in hopes of finding their target. Agent Phillips was in deep concentration before the baritone voice of his partner broke through his thoughts.
"What I don't understand is, if this kid has avoided the organization for this long, what makes them think this newly formed team will spot him? And they want us to take him alive? I can't believe that. These bullets aren't standard issue. They aren't tranquilizers either. They are electrified and have a exploding shells. If we shoot him, they gave us the materials to kill him, or make him hurt a fuck load. I don't like it."
"That's not the point. Coulson has a point. This is the mission. HQ knows what they are doing...." Agent Adams didn't miss the way his partners voice faded out at the end of his sentence. He shifted his eyes once more at his spotter, before whispering his reply.
"Do they really?" Before Agent Phillips could reply, the excited voice of a Ground Agent cut in.
"I have a visual." This snapped the two Agents back into position.
"Where?"
"Thirty feet form my position. Tall, caucasian male. Deeply tanned. Black jeans and a navy blue hoodie. He's going against the flow. Seems to be heading towards Queens." Agent Phillips followed the directions given, searching for the label subject.
"Got him. He's 503 meters right from our position." Agent Adams turned his rifle towards the area directed. "See him?"
"Yup." He reached up and fixed the focus on his scope. "I got him. Hey Lovebirds? You got him?"
"Shut it Adams. And affirmative, we've got him in our sights. you guys are closer though. He's roughly 1000 meters from our position."
"Don't worry about it though. My baby can handle the distance."
"Forget about it. Let me and Phillips handle him, you two can go back to fucking."
"Adams you have one of the most perverted minds I have ever met. I swear to God, you're just horrible."
Adams laughed. "Obviously you haven't met Stark yet have you?"
"He's a bit too flamboyant for my taste. And annoying as hell. I'd probably shoot him."
"You Specialists do know this is an open comm...right?"
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Percy P.O.V
My day was pretty shitty from the start if you ask me. But then again, I don't remember a day that hasn't been shitty in some way, at some time. But I can assure you, my miserable day was a Hades lot better before I discovered the people following me. It's only been 3 days since I "deserted" and I've already had to decline 10 Iris Messages. Don't think I completely abandoned them though, I've had a series of ocean nymphs and wave Kelpies keeping an eye on the Roman camp. They send me messages through currents, telling me how they are surviving. Ever since I killed Gaea, the army has been falling apart and the living demigods have only had to fight the stragglers.
But I haven't been living, or even surviving. I've just been...existing I guess. I haven't gotten a single wink of sleep. My body has collapsed a few times, but I was unconscious, not asleep. Sleep is almost worse than being awake. Because that's when I have the flashbacks, the nightmares. And her. I'm plagued with visions of her. If you want a good description of how I look and feel, well....let's just say Nico is a supermodel in comparison. It's been hard, trying to live when really, all I want to do is die. Peacefully and alone. Just pass on and fade out of existence.
You hurt because you're alive.... Poetic right? Well, I'm tired of hurting.
I've been crashing at the new house my mom bought with Paul after they got married. It was a very nice house, large. A good sized house for a family. Appropriate considering the fact my mom is pregnant. But odd for me. That child's life, my sibling's life could be in danger because of me. Because of what I am and what I've done. I would stay until the child was born but...I wasn't planning on staying around. Not with my status as a danger magnet. Which leads me back to my current predicament.
I'm being stalked.
I have yet to identify what type of stalker, i.e. monster or human being, and I am starting to get antsy. Because if it is a human stalker, I'm fucked. If it's a monster, all I need to do is go in an alley and decapitate it. Easy and done. Unless it's a human...ya, if it's a human, I'm fucked.
Strike that. Humans. With an S. As in plural. Shit.
So far with my count, I have two trailing game on the ground, following from a nice 20 or so foot distance. Then there is another person at the next light ahead of me. By the looks of it, they are pros. Probably government considering my shitty luck. I looked ahead and glanced back behind me. I then looked at the busy street to my right. Do I go for it? It's a pretty stupid idea....
Ya, let's do this.
I didn't immediately dash away while trying to make a run for it. I played it cool, making it seem like I genuinely wanted to jay walk the bustling street. Because I'm just that stupid. So I walked to the edge, waiting for a seemingly good time to run for my life as my stalkers began to close in.
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"Adams, Phillips, what's the status?"
"He doesn't appear to have made the Grounders. Wait...he looks like he's going to cross."
"What? Across that? Is he mad?"
"He could of made you guys. This is why we never should have agreed to using Grounders...."
"He's going for it!" The team watched in awe as the kid expertly dodged and evaded the oncoming traffic. He was calm and collected, even dropping beneath some of the oncoming vehicles before simply walking on. He walked, he dodged, he moved on. Simple. For a trained operative that is. Not for a teenager.
"He's gotta be trained. No one has reflexes like that without something extra. It's just not possible."
"Agreed." Phillips looked at his partner. Then glanced back at the target through his binoculars.
"New plan. Grounders, follow the target. Assume you've been made. Act accordingly. Isolate him and take him down. Snipers, reposition. When he's alone, aim to wound and disable. We need this kid alive. Roger?"
"Roger!" The Grounders activated. They dashed across the street, ignoring the blaring horns and traffic jams they were creating. The two men broke apart. One followed the target with the female operative while the second one took a backstreet, planning on cutting the boy off. The second sniper team had already packed up and moved locations, serving as back up for the Grounders. Phillips and Adams stayed on the rooftop, well within good range along with Adams being an expert long distance sniper.
The minute the Grounders started running, it seemed as if something snapped within the target. He was no longer slouching down, no longer looked like a typical teenager on a stroll. He burst off, shoulders straightened, running at speeds no one expected. He looked pro, his hood shielding his face and dodging between civilians, using them as cover from the snipers. He bent down low, jumping over obstacles, nearly losing the team twice.
"Who the fuck is this kid?"
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Percy P.O.V
I knew it was a slippery move, trying to evade them through traffic. I guess I was right. I could feel the panic coming from behind me. I looked back over my hunched shoulders, trying to gauge their response. I didn't miss how the two men following me touched their ears, as if listening to someone.
There are more of them.
Alright Percy, assess the situation. There following you. One will probably break off to try and cut you off. Where would he go? You still have two following you. One male, one female, both most likely trained professionals. They aren't alone. There should be at least one more team backing them up. But where? You'd need a good vantage point, somewhere where you have a good view of the streets but close enough to keep track of me. Look at the rooftops. That's the best bet.
I glanced up, turning behind me. I knew they couldn't be too close, but a good distance for a sniper. 1000 yds. That was my search range. I shifted my eyes quickly, not able to stop a properly look. I caught a slight glare on the top of a roof not to far from my position. They have a sniper and a spotter. Most probably the guys running whatever the Hades they were doing. Just great. I have to get out of here. Knowing my shitty ass hand in life, that gun is trained right on me. I need cover. And I need an escape.
I felt the air shift behind me. They are making a run for me. With that, I snapped into action. I can't get caught. Whatever they think I did, it wasn't me. I swear. Unless they are after me for the St. Luis Arch. That, yes, I did do. But not willingly. And with that, I broke into a run. I stayed on the left side, feeling guilty for using the civilians as slight cover. If they were government, they would't shoot. And if they did, I'd heal the people with water before running off. I'm not soulless.
Because I could sense where they were behind me, I was able to evade them several times. I got off the main street, going through back alleys and even running through a few videos. If only they had been monsters. Why did they have to be humans? Why? Why? Why?
Question of my life right there.
Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn. Right into an abandoned alleyway. With a high, bolted gate at the end. I'm trapped.
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"Do you have a visual?"
"Target went East into an alleyway. That's the last time I had visual. Has anyone else spotted him?" Phillips and Adams rolled their eyes at the sloppy work of the Grounders. How could they lose a target, let alone a teenager. They looked at each other.
"Must we do everything ourselves." Adams just sighed as he dropped his head down onto the ground. With a groan he began to get up and expertly disassembled his gun and packed it away with finesse. He shouldered his bag and stood up, lifting his eye brow as he observed Phillip.
"Grounders....Let's do this." They nodded to each other and broke into a run, jumping over buildings. They had experience with chances so they quite enjoyed this part of their mission. Phillips would't admit this to anyone else but, it made him feel like a ninja. But don't tell anyone that. Once they reached a strategic point near the last location he was spotted, Adams hunkered down and reassembled his sniper. He laid down, eye glued to his scope.
"Phillips! Taget acquired!" Phillips snapped into action, grabbing his hand gun and telescope, looking at the area Adams singled out.
"Sniper 1 has visual. Sniper 2, move 100 meters East of our position. Grounders, target is in an alleyway."
"We got him. He's cornered." The snipers lined up their shots at the target's legs and shoulders. The Grounders closed in, approaching the boy cautiously. The female Agent held two daggers crouching down low, ready for an altercation. One male agent held a gun, trained right on the target's chest, right above his heart. The last male agent held an electrified baton, his expertise being hand to hand combat.
They observed the target, their eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He was over six feet tall and was quite attractive. He couldn't have been older than eighteen and that unsettled the agents. Why would this kid be their target. When he turned around to face then, they balked, unprepared for that predatory look in his tantalizing sea green eyes. He had wind swept black hair covering his forehead but that did nothing to distract them from his eyes. He wore a light gray hoodie and dark Adidas running pants, typical male civilian gear. If he was a terrorist asset, he knew how to blend in.
"Perseus Jackson?" They noticed the slight flinch he gave at the use of his full name. He straightened his shoulders and looked the male agent in the eyes, his expression cold and guarded.
"Who's asking?"
"Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D."
"S.H.E.I.L.D? What the Hades is that?" The agents glanced at each other uncertainty. Who didn't know of SHIELD?
"We've come to apprehend you. Come quietly and no one will get hurt."
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Hey guys! So this is my last post until around July 11th. I will miss you guys but I didn't want to leave you hanging. I will write more for this chapter when I come back so don't worry. I wish I could write more but I'm dead tired and I have an early morning.
I ove you guys so much!! Keep on commenting!!! I might write another version of this chapter to correspond with the first version of Profiling. I don't know yet.
See you guys in a few weeks!! Keep on reading!!!
Adieu,
Aisha
(A/N: I will respond to your comments and everything once I get back so don't fret.)