Annabeth
"What are you still doing here while the boys are off at your Camp Half-Blood?" Carol asked as she joined Annabeth in the interrogation room.
Annabeth huffed, putting down her yellow legal pad. She had tried working in the conference room earlier, but all the Avengers that had stayed behind either kept whining about not seeing Camp Half-Blood or blowing things up, which made it difficult for Annabeth to concentrate. She was trying to make a list of everyone that would be fighting on their side so she could begin to strategize, as well as consolidate everything they knew about the other side.
"Someone's got to get down to business while they go sightseeing," Annabeth said.
The former pilot chuckled, sitting on the edge of the table. "Can I help?"
Annabeth shrugged. "Some company would be nice. As long as you won't blow anything up."
Carol raised her glowing fists. "These babies are under lock and key."
"Then, by all means." Annabeth grinned. "I'm putting together a list of our allies and enemies, and trying to find out whatever else I can about this HYDRA organization."
Suddenly interested, Carol leaned forward. "I can help with that. Now that my memories are back, I remember learning a bit about HYDRA. What do you want to know?"
Annabeth flipped to a new page on her notepad. "What's the deal with them? Steve said he destroyed them back in nineteen-forty-five. Who were they?"
"They were a part of Hitler's Nazis, the special weapons division." Carol began. "Their leader was Johann Schmidt, but most people know him as Red Skull. The reason for the name was because he had once worked with Dr. Erskine, the man who created the serum that turned Steve into a supersoldier. Because of Schmidt's ambition, he tested an early version of the serum on himself. It did give him powers like Steve, but also disfigured his face into—"
"A red skull," Annabeth guessed.
Carol nodded. "He was obsessed with power and wanted to control the world. He found the Tesseract and used it to create very dangerous weapons. Once Steve became Captain America, he destroyed HYDRA facilities all over Europe and eventually faced Red Skull himself. They fought on a ship carrying bombs towards New York and Steve defeated him, but no one knows exactly how. Because their leader was gone, the Allies were able to take down HYDRA after that.
"Apparently, they didn't do as good a job as they thought." Carol sighed. "I wasn't on Earth when it happened, so I don't know exactly—"
"I do." Came Natasha's voice from the doorway, where she was leaning nonchalantly. Wanda accompanied her. "Mind if we join you?"
"As long as the boys aren't with you," Annabeth said.
Natasha's upper lip twitched as she and Wanda sat across from Annabeth. Natasha folded her arms as she explained, "HYDRA kept growing after Steve went into the ice. Once S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, they rooted into the organization like a parasite. For years, they hid inside S.H.I.E.L.D., influencing history and feeding war. A few years ago, Fury got suspicious. We found out the truth, HYDRA tried to kill millions of people, and we stopped them but lost S.H.I.E.L.D. in the process. No one could know for sure who was S.H.I.E.L.D. and who was HYDRA, so they both had to go. But they really like their little saying, 'Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.' No matter what we do, we've never been able to completely wipe them out."
"And now they know about my world," Annabeth added, shaking her head. "I don't like the sound of these guys."
"You shouldn't," Natasha agreed.
"They're the ones that gave me these powers," Wanda confessed, a ball of glowing red energy forming in her hand. "Pietro and I volunteered, but they took advantage of two young children who had been devastated by loss and consumed with grief. I wish we never became involved with HYDRA."
Annabeth nodded sadly. "I know what you mean. Our friend Nico, he was in a bad place after he lost his sister and an evil ghost tried to exploit that."
"Ghost?" Wanda frowned.
"Long story." Annabeth waved her hand.
No one said anything for a few minutes, all four women lost in thought. Annabeth knew that Nico was okay now and had mostly worked through his demons, but she couldn't help feeling sorry for him, and a bit guilty. Zoë's quest hadn't really been about rescuing Annabeth, but that was part of it, and in the process, Bianca had died. When Nico found out, they weren't there for him like they should have been. Annabeth didn't work hard enough to make Camp Half-Blood understand and accept him. He shouldn't have been made to feel so alone, it shouldn't have taken another war for him to be welcomed and believe that he belonged with the other demigods.
"Well, that helps a bit," Annabeth finally said, writing down the last few notes after pulling herself from the sad thoughts. She wanted to sit in silence pondering this new information about HYDRA, but there would be time for that later.
"What else can we do while Fury calls in some friends?" Carol asked.
Annabeth smirked. "We call in some more."
Ω
Carol, Wanda, and Natasha were all very confused as they followed Annabeth outside into the sun. As she walked over to a hose attached to the compound wall, Annabeth laughed to herself. They thought I meant to call using a phone.
"So why are we out here?" Natasha wondered.
Annabeth held up the prism she'd grabbed from Sally's apartment the day before. She instructed Natasha to hold the hose in place while Carol heated up the water to turn it into a mist, and Annabeth maneuvered the prism into the right spot to form a rainbow.
"We've made a rainbow. Cool," Carol noted dryly.
Without responding, Annabeth tossed a drachma into the mist where it vanished and Carol, Wanda, and Natasha gasped. Annabeth said, "Oh, Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Nico di Angelo at Camp Half-Blood."
The mist shimmered and in a moment, Nico appeared before Annabeth in the same skull t-shirt and black jeans he usually wore, along with his skull ring and messy black hair. He was in his gloomy cabin packing a bag while Will Solace, clad in flip-flops, khaki shorts, and a blue scrub top was ranting next to him.
Nico was barely fazed by the appearance of the Iris Message. He glanced at Annabeth and said, "Hey Annabeth. Percy's already talked to us. Will you please tell my boyfriend that I'm more than capable of handling myself and that it's been months since I had trouble shadow traveling?"
Annabeth looked at Will. "Will, he's fine. You know he is."
Will grumbled incoherently under his breath. "I still think—"
"If you're fighting, I'm fighting. You can't stop me," Nico stated, glaring at his boyfriend. Will glared right back, but eventually huffed and walked away.
"Glad to hear you're on board," Annabeth said, ready to move on. "I've got a favor to ask."
"First, who are they?" Nico wondered, crossing his arms and staring past Annabeth.
Remembering Carol, Wanda, and Natasha, Annabeth turned to see the three of them studying the image intensely. They didn't seem too freaked out by it, more curious than anything. "Nico, this is Carol Danvers, Wanda Maximoff, and Natasha Romanoff. They're some of those superheroes Percy told you about. Carol, Wanda, Natasha, this is Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades. That guy who just left is Will Solace, a son of Apollo, and Nico's boyfriend."
"He won't be if he keeps trying to bench me," Nico muttered. "Anyway, what do you need?"
Annabeth adjusted her grip on the prism. "I'm sure Hazel and Frank will talk to Camp Jupiter at some point, but would you mind shadow traveling over there and starting to recruit people? Maybe the centurions, like Lavinia and Leila, and anyone else that's willing to help," Annabeth suggested.
Nico thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure some of them would like to take out some monsters. They haven't been attacked since Apollo, they're probably bored. I'll go check in with Frank and Hazel and then head over."
"Thanks, keep me updated."
Nico saluted Annabeth and then ended the IM.
"So, that was . . ." Carol trailed off, unable to describe it.
Annabeth smiled. "An Iris Message. It's the preferred way of communicating for demigods since we can't use technology, it costs one gold drachma. The prayer used to be 'Oh, Iris, please accept my offering,' but now Fleecy's in charge of it and she does things a little differently."
"Anyone else you want to call in?" Natasha asked after passing the hose off to Wanda.
In answer, Annabeth simply tossed another drachma into the mist and said, "Oh, Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Thalia Grace."
The rainbow warped until a new picture appeared, this time showing a bright setting in the woods. Silver tents were pitched in the background and girls in matching hunting outfits meandered about. In the center of the image, sitting on a log and sharpening her arrows, was Annabeth's oldest friend, Thalia Grace.
She looked good, Annabeth had to admit, although it was still strange that she hadn't aged at all since joining the Hunters of Artemis. Her black hair was short and spiky, decorated with the lieutenant's silver circlet. Underneath her silver windbreaker, Thalia wore a "Death to Barbie" t-shirt with camouflage pants and sturdy black combat boots.
"Hey, stranger," Annabeth said.
Thalia looked up and beamed. "Hey yourself. Been a while. Have you started college yet?"
"It's still summer, remember?" Annabeth said.
Thalia waved her off. "It's hard to keep track of the days out here. It all blurs together. Especially after—" She froze, and it was easy to guess what she had been about to say.
"I know," Annabeth said softly. "We miss him too."
Thalia forced a smile onto her face. "Anyway, what's up? Who are your friends?"
"Carol Danvers. Wanda Maximoff. Natasha Romanoff." Annabeth pointed at each of them. "They're superheroes. It's a long story."
Thalia frowned, putting down the arrow she had been working on. "Superheroes?" Before Annabeth could answer, Thalia sighed, "What did Percy do this time?"
Annabeth laughed. Thalia assuming Percy had gotten into trouble was so normal, Annabeth had forgotten what that felt like. The fact that she had to ruin it made her even sadder.
"Well, it's what he did in the past," Annabeth told Thalia. "A few immortals with grudges are targeting him, and there's more to it than usual. I don't know what Artemis has you doing, but do you think you and the Hunters could get to New York in five days? It'd be easier to explain everything in person."
Thalia blew the shavings off her arrowhead, satisfied with its sharpness. She put her quiver of arrows back together and announced, "We'll be there. And after we stop this month's world-dictator-wannabe, cheeseburgers with Percy and Grover?"
"Obviously." Annabeth grinned.
A Hunter walked past the image, then doubled back and crouched down to see it better. Annabeth was pleased to recognize her as the one and only Reyna Avila Ramírez Arellano, dressed the same as all the other Hunters with her dark hair in a long braid down her back.
"Hey Reyna," Annabeth greeted. "Good to see you."
"You too, Annabeth. What's this I hear about going to New York?" the daughter of Bellona wondered.
"Percy's in trouble, as usual," Thalia told her. "Apparently, superheroes are involved. We're gonna go help them out. Annabeth will explain more when we get there."
Reyna nodded, looking confused but obeying her superior. "I'll start rounding everyone up."
"See you soon, Annabeth!" Thalia waved goodbye and swiped her hand through the mist.
"Is that the all-female group of huntresses you mentioned?" Natasha asked and Annabeth nodded. Natasha stared at the spot the IM had occupied, a thoughtful look on her face. "Looks a lot nicer than the Red Room."
"If you don't mind me asking," Carol hesitated, "who do you miss?"
Annabeth's mood darkened. She hadn't been as close to Jason as some of the others had, but they were still good friends. Even months later, it was hard to think about him.
Annabeth gathered her courage. "Jason, the one who died helping Apollo. His last name was Grace. He and Thalia were siblings, almost full-blooded. She's a daughter of Zeus, he was a son of Jupiter. Same mother. It's been hard for all of us."
Natasha and Carol were silent for a few moments to allow Annabeth to mourn. She appreciated it. And even though she'd heard it many times, it still brought some comfort when Wanda said, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Carol tried to steer them away from the dark subject. "Need to call anyone else? Or are we done making rainbows for today?" She shook out her wrists.
Annabeth thought for a moment, but no one else came to mind. She and Percy weren't on the best terms with the Amazons and they had their own empire to run anyway. The Party Ponies would probably cause more destruction than they would prevent. There was no use asking the gods for help. And Percy and Nico were taking care of everyone at Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.
"I think that's it," she finally decided.
"Didn't you mention a cousin? A Norse demigod, or something?" Natasha remembered.
For a moment, Annabeth perked up at the prospect of seeing Magnus and his friends again. But the more she thought about it, the worse of an idea it seemed. She shook her head. "Yeah, but it wouldn't be a good idea to bring him in. Magnus is technically dead. He's an einherji, which means he died bravely in battle and was taken to Valhalla to await Ragnarok. If he dies in Valhalla he'll be reborn, but if he dies in the real world, game over. I can't do that to him, especially since this isn't his fight."
Carol harrumphed, and then said, annoyed, "Are there any other pantheons we can talk to?"
"Well, there are my Egyptian magician friends Sadie and Carter Kane . . ." Annabeth remembered.
"I—I was joking," Carol glanced at Wanda and Natasha. The three of them looked very lost.
Annabeth nixed the idea again. "No, they have their own stuff to deal with, and this isn't their fight either. We'll just have to hope we've got enough."