Percy
I hadn't realized how much time had passed in the Field, but it was already lunchtime on my second full day with the Avengers. After a quick trip to the kitchen with the entire team, we were loaded up with sandwiches and ready for story time.
We had decided to gather in an informal living room instead of the conference room this time. I was slouched into a white leather sectional, shared by Steve and Bruce. Natasha and Clint (whose name is Clint, anyway?) were sharing a loveseat that matched our couch. Tony and Fury were sitting as far apart from each other without falling off their sofa. The room had a cozy feel, with light-colored plush carpets and dark wood finishes. The light fixtures emanated warm, yellow light that- combined with the sandwiches- nearly put me to sleep.
Gods, when did I turn into Annabeth? I never would have noticed light fixtures two years ago.
Bruce cleared his throat, and I realized everyone had been staring at me for quite some time.
My face felt hot but I said, "Enjoying the view?"
Most of the guys snorted, and Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Just tell us the rest of your story. You left off after the battle of Manhattan," Fury pressed.
"Yeah, I did. So, the Titans were locked away or scattered, most of my friends were alive, Annabeth and I were happy, and I was ready to retire from saving the world. But it all changed when the fire nation attacked-"
"PERCY!"
"Fine, sorry. So you remember the goddess Hera? Yeah, she's a jerk." I told them all about the Giant war, including what Jason, Piper, and Leo had told me about their journey. But I choked up as I came to the final battle.
"Wars are always hard. It is so wrong that you even had to participate, let alone lead an army," Steve said, in an attempt to comfort me.
My shoulders were shaking, but my eyes were dry and my head was level. "No. It's OK. I--I won't get into specifics, but basically: the Seven plus the gods kicked Giant butt and Gaea faded away. But...we lost some really good friends."
"Umm, awesome story. But, immortality?" questioned Tony, earning a glare from Natasha.
I took a deep breath and nodded. "Immortality. Just like with the last war, the gods offered me a gift, any gift, for leading their army. This time the offer was extended to all of my friends as well. Due to many factors, including the fact that last time I rejected immortality, Zeus shut down Olympus, we all agreed to take it."
"So, the Seven demigods became gods?" asked Fury.
"The ones that lived."
The Avengers looked around in somber silence.
One again it was Tony who broke the silence. "So how does it work, immortality?"
That question could be interpreted a few different ways, but I did my best. "Well, all of the Olympians had to agree to bless us. One panful, glowing, white light later, and all of us were ten feet tall and strong enough to bench a school bus." That received some impressed looks. "We are just minor gods. Minor gods are either children of Olympians, like us, or younger, and less powerful gods. We have domains just like the Olympians, but our powers are contained within theirs." The team looked completely lost.
"For example, I'm the god of tropical storms. I have a few other powers, but that's my main one. Tropical storms are contained within Poseidon's realm. Annabeth is the goddess of Architecture, which is contained within Athena's realm of wisdom and useful crafts. See?"
"But you still retained the powers you had as a demigod?" asked Bruce.
"Yup. Most of them got stronger too, or expanded."
"Expanded?" asked Natasha.
I nodded, "Before the transition, I could do this." They jumped as I caused water to shoot out of the sink, swirl towards me, and collect in a small ball in front of my face.
"But after the transition, I can do this, too."
I concentrated and watched the ball of water stretch it's self into the shape of a bowl, and then grow a stem, like on a wineglass.
"That's not very im-" started Tony, but he was cut off by the awesomeness of my next trick.
I flicked my wrist and froze the water into an exact replica of one of the goblets we used at Camp Half-Blood.
"Was there any reason you couldn't just tell us that 'expanding' meant that you could freeze water as well?" Fury asked.
"Oh c'mon. That was awesome!" I protested.
Meanwhile, Bruce and Tony had snatched the glass out of the air and were pressing their hands against it.
"What the heck, guys?" I was utterly confused.
They ignored me, but Bruce said aloud, "It doesn't melt, and is quite resistant to pressure."
Should I add this to his file?
I jumped and whirled around, Riptide at the ready.
"Percy?" said Natasha softly, "That's still JARVIS."
I sat down quickly, embarrassed. I noticed that Tony and Bruce had relinquished the goblet and were looking at me with weakly hidden concern.
"What?" I was fairly sure I knew the reason behind their concern, but I was hoping they'd stop looking at me like that if I acted like there was nothing wrong.
"You've been here two and a half days, and you're still jumpy about JARVIS. We know your diagnosis, Percy," said Clint with a sympathetic look in his eyes.
"It's OK, Percy. I believe all of us have dealt with PTSD at one time," said Steve. Then he added, "Tony especially."
I looked over at the Iron Man, but I wasn't surprised that Tony, who seemed so sarcastic and constantly joking, had his tough spots.
The same was true with Leo.
"Well, we've heard your story," said Fury, standing up and effectively pulling us out of our dark thoughts. "The rest of the afternoon is yours to get acquainted with the team and our facilities. Please don't blow anything up."
"You have seen my school history, haven't you?" I joked, grateful for the change in conversation.
Fury sighed, "Just... clean up after yourself." he disappeared into the hallway that would bring him to the elevator.
"We'll be in the gym if you want to join us later," said Clint as he and Natasha walked out the door.
I nodded at them. Steve stood up and I felt the couch I was sitting on shift.
"I'm going to get more to eat," Steve announced. I jumped up.
"I'll join you."
Bruce and Tony had started talking to each other about science-y I-don't-even-know-what stuff.
Steve and I walked down the hall together.
"My high metabolism is a result of the Super Soldier Serum; is there a reason you need to eat again? Or are you just escaping from Stark and Banner?" Steve inquired.
"Gods don't actually need to eat, but it feels weird not to, y'know?"
He shrugged, obviously not having experience being a god.
"What did you mean by Super Soldier Serum? Is that a new energy drink?"
Steve chuckled, "Not quite. It was a revolutionary formula, designed to turn a normal man into a stronger, faster, smarter, and more deadly version of himself. And it was created sometime before 1939."
"So definitely not new."
"Right. It also increases my metabolism, so I need to eat a lot more and I can't get drunk."
"I totally understand the 'eating more' thing. When I had the curse of Achilles, I ate everything, and slept three times a day." A dim light bulb lit in my brain. "Wait, you said, 1939?"
"Yes. I fought in World War II until I was frozen in ice for many years. I'm 96 years old, technically."
"Wow."
"Most people have a stronger reaction to that."
"Well, my friend Nico is in a similar situation. He was born during World War II and was trapped in a casino, without aging, for a long time. He's like 17 physically, but he's been alive for over 80 years."
"Huh. I should meet him some time."
By now we had long since reached the kitchen, and Captain was raiding the fridge while I was perched on a table, swinging my legs.
"He's not really the meet-and-greet type, but I'm sure he'd love to talk to someone who lived in the same time-frame as him. Actually that sounds like a really good idea, he's been kind of alone for the last year or two. Will security freak if I bring him here right now?" I asked Steve.
"I don't think so, but if I'm going to meet him right now-"
"Yeah?" I interrupted.
"-can I finish my sandwich?"
I laughed, approving of his priorities. "It'll take some time to contact him, so I'll be back in 5 minutes." I started walking out of the room before realizing I had no idea where I was going. I turned around in the doorway.
"Umm, where's the bathroom?" I asked sheepishly.
"Gods need to use the bathroom?"
"Err, no. But I need to make a private phone call. It's better if you don't ask," I said in response to his raised eyebrow.
"Two doors down, on the left," supplied Steve, still very confused.
I flashed a grin and left to find the bathroom. Once inside I created a fine mist out of one of the faucets. The fluorescents shown through and a rainbow shimmered into existence in the white, sterile bathroom.
I was surprised at how much I still used Iris-Messaging after becoming a god. Gods weren't allowed to cross into each other's realms without permission, so I had to IM them first. Gods also weren't required to give payment to Iris, but I did as a habit.
I pulled a Drachma out of thin air and threw it into the rainbow. "O Fleecy, do me a solid, show me Nico di Angelo at... the Underworld, probably."
The rainbow shimmered until an image of a dark, shaggy-haired warrior appeared. Nico was in the middle of hacking away at an army of ghosts. The first time I had seen Nico fighting these ghosts, I thought he was in grave peril. But now I know this was just a training exercise for him.
"Hey, Nico!" I had to yell to get his attention, but I immediately regretted it when I remembered I was in a very small bathroom in the Avengers tower. Luckily, no concerned agents came in.
I watched the IM and saw the ghost army vanish instantly. Nico's head whipped towards me, his sword still drawn.
"Oh, hey Percy." Nico shealthed his sword.
"Hey. I have this guy I want you to meet-"
"Percy, I swear if you're trying to set me up with him-"
I held up my hands defensively, "Dude, no. I'm not an Aphrodite girl."
He sighed, "Good."
"I think you should meet my friend though. He's from 1918."
Nico looked extremely concerned with my mental health, "Why would I want to meet someone who's almost 100 years old?"
"Just trust me, OK?" I said imploringly.
"Fine, where are you?"
"The Avengers tower in New York."
"You were allowed into a building with superheroes?"
"Yes, now just get your butt over here."
"I'm coming, geez, hold your pegasi."
I rolled my eyes and swiped my hand through the mist.
Suddenly I heard a thud and a crash in the kitchen. I smiled. Nico was in the building.
"I'm here."
I jumped a foot. I hadn't even opened the door to the bathroom yet, but Nico was suddenly behind me. I turned around slowly.
"What? What's wrong? Did I forget clothes again?" he looked down at his T-shirt (I think it was for some punk rock band), black jeans, converse and Aviator jacket.
"You're fine, but I think something's going on in the kitchen."
"Swords out?"
I shook my head, my brow furrowed. If Nico hadn't made that huge crash, were the others in trouble? Could anything attack us inside the tower?
I heard Nico clear his throat, "Can we leave the bathroom...?"
"Oops."
We rushed out of the cramped bathroom and ran into the kitchen.
"I left for five minutes! What the heck happened?!"
Natasha and Clint were sitting at the table with Steve, but what concerned me was the large quantity of blood covering the tabletop. As we walked in, Natasha stood up, glared suspiciously at Nico (who was hanging behind me like the shadow he is) and began to raid the cupboards of the kitchen.
Steve wrapped a large piece of gauze around Clint's arm, which was apparently the source of all the blood.
"Did he get shot?" I asked, incredulous.
"Just a graze," Clint said through clenched teeth.
Natasha came back to the table with the object of her search: a large bottle of apple-juice colored alcohol. She quickly popped the top and soaked a piece of gauze in the drink. She started efficiently wiping out Clint's wound with the gauze.
As she worked, rinsing and rewrapping his wound, she explained, "Clint and I were playing Bullet Monkey -basically dodge ball with guns- when he lost."
"Harsh," I said.
"It's good training," Clint said. The three of them mopped up the remaining blood and sat down at the table. Nico and I stood watching them, not altogether surprised by injuries or blood, but that there were other people just as strange as us.
"So, is this Nico?" Steve asked as he tossed away the last of the blood-soaked cloths.
"Oh, yeah. Nico di Angelo, this is Natasha, Clint and Steve," I pointed to them in order.
"None of you look nearly 100 years old," Nico stated.
They chuckled. "You don't look a day over 80, yourself," jested Steve.
"Wait," Nico turned to me and I could see the recognition dawning on him, "They're the Avengers. Are you telling me this is Captain America?"
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Hey guys! Please don't murder me! I finally got this written! I wrote it about a week ago, but I didn't feel all that great about it, but I didn't want to re-write it, so it just sat there. I read it over again and decided that I liked it, so here it is.
I love all of you continued support, despite my absence. I was having a lot of trouble with my laptop, plus I have SUMMER HOMEWORK (I know, right?), so I haven't really had a good time to do this.
Thank you for all of the wonderful comments you guys have posted! I might start responding to more questions, I don't know.
Thanks for all your comments and votes! Happy reading!!! <3
Recent update: I binge-watched Merlin so badly that I now have resrtictions on electronics use. It was kinda worth it.