Chapter 64 - The Avengers (AU) (Part V)
published: Monday, 27 July 2020
Additional characters:
Galaga Guy: Rachel Dare
"Hey! Hey!" Percy's yells reverberated between the stone walls of his prison cell. "Where are you taking her? Let her go!"
The guards didn't heed his shouts as they dragged Annabeth off by the arms, her figure still limp from whatever serum-battling drugs they'd pumped her with.
Percy sank to the floor, back against the wall as a cold sweat started to mat on his skin. This was a really, really bad situation.
People loved to kidnap Percy; in fact, it happened so often, even when he was a kid, that some of them were boring. There were multiple reasons to kidnap Percy Jackson — ransoms and extortion just two of many — but seeing as Captain America had also been a captive, Percy guessed that this time it was about the Avengers.
Or, this was one of millions of organisations who wanted the super soldier serum, and Percy had just been lucky enough to be with her at the time. They had just finished lunch and were ordering dessert.
And Percy knew it probably shouldn't be a priority right now, but he was really, really annoyed that he hadn't gotten his doughnuts.
Percy surveyed the area of his confinement. He was alone in the pitch black, with maybe one or two guards standing watch outside. Annabeth was gone, but if he let himself think about that then he wouldn't ever stop, and they wouldn't get out of here.
They'd been disarmed within minutes of their capture — off-duty Avengers still carried weapons — but he was Percy Jackson, and he'd built a state-of-the-art suit of armour in a cave with nothing but scrap metal, so this wasn't even the worst of it.
Percy's hands were bound with zip ties — those shouldn't be a problem to get out of — which he got to loosening. Once that was done, he could do the same for his feet.
From his guesswork, they'd probably been kidnapped about 45 minutes ago, which meant that it would take maybe 3 to 4 hours for the others to realise they were missing.
Percy hoped that the team would be able to find him, but that was unlikely, seeing as he didn't even know where the hell they were being held.
He did a rapid inventory — his phone and wallet were gone, as well as his watch, which had mechanisms he'd specifically designed to help in situations like this.
Fortunately, Percy's paranoia and borderline insanity paid off at times like this. The 49 micro-repeaters he'd injected into himself back during the entire Mandarin and Extremis fiasco, though still a work in progress, could summon Mark 42 to here.
Closing his eyes, Percy tried to summon the armour. He didn't know where he was, but he hoped the armour would be here within the hour.
Or, if he was wrong and lack of use of the armour had made it break down, then Percy was stuck here with no way to get out.
Figuring that there was nothing else he could do but hope, Percy slumped against the wall, letting his mind drift to better things as he waited.
Turns out, he didn't have to wait long. He nodded off within minutes, anxiety on the forefront of his mind, and was roughly woken up an undefinable amount of time later by the slamming of the cell door.
Percy jolted awake with a startled yelp, blinking the daze from his eyes as the same guards from earlier stampeded inside, Annabeth slung between them.
Percy's vision tunnelled. Blood stained her arms and her uniform, enough that the original colour of the material wasn't even visible. "What the hell did you do to her?" he demanded furiously, resisting the urge to leap forward and punch the guard.
The guard simply sneered at him before throwing Annabeth towards him. She rolled across the floor, form slack like a rag doll in a way that made Percy's heart sink into his stomach.
Percy forced himself to wait until the guards left the cell and were out of sight before he yanked his hands out of the zip ties. His heart hammered maniacally as he fumbled with the restraints around his ankles.
Once he was free, Percy rushed to Annabeth's side, kneeling down as he frantically searched for a pulse. Fortunately, she did have one — weak and fluttering, but it was there, just beneath his fingertips.
"Annabeth," he whispered, voice trembling. "Annabeth, can you hear me?" As he tentatively brushed the hair from her face, Percy shuddered at the scratches on her collarbone.
Her uniform was cut almost into shreds, long incisions made along her ribcage. Percy assumed they'd been trying to bleed her out — not enough to kill her, but to keep her in unconsciousness.
"Jesus Christ," he murmured, voice thick with emotion. "What did they do to you?" he whispered, fist clenching as he gritted his teeth.
A soft groan escaped Annabeth's lips, and Percy sat back down with a mix of relief and concern.
"Percy?" she croaked weakly.
Percy leaned forward, grabbing her hand. "I'm here," he whispered back. "We're gonna get out of here, okay?" Hell, she wasn't even healing. She'd lost too much blood for the serum to do its work.
"AIM," she coughed, blood splattering against her palm. "They're—they're AIM."
Percy gnashed his teeth. "Of course, they are." Annabeth's blood was like the Holy Grail to most scientific organisations — the unprecedented and non-replicable serum. Percy just wished people would see more in her than a blood bag.
As her arms started to shift, Percy released her hand in alarm. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed.
"Going to bust us out of here," Annabeth slurred, clearly not in the right state of mind.
Percy sighed exasperatedly as he helped prop her up against the wall. Sometimes, Annabeth's rock-hard determination and stubbornness was something close to a death wish.
"You can't even sit up," he told her firmly. "You need to recover your energy." Percy lowered his voice, casting a spare glance at the guards outside, who were preoccupied with their own conversation. "Look, I have a plan."
Even in her daze, Annabeth's brow furrowed. "You have a plan," she repeated, almost sarcastic.
"Like, 45% of a plan."
"Reassuring," Annabeth muttered. The sickly pallor of her skin was starting to fade into her usual warm colour. "Serum's working, just a bit slowly."
"If you were anyone else you would've died by now," Percy whispered. A tiny part of him marvelled are the wonders of it, but the rest of him really didn't care — all that mattered was that they get out of this alive. "How are you even talking?"
"I've learnt not to question it." Annabeth reaches down gingerly, brushing her palm over her ribs.
"Don't," Percy interjected grimly. "It's not pretty."
Her features twisted into something close to nausea. "AIM is a real bitch."
Percy felt something close to a laugh bubble up in the back of his throat. Annabeth swearing was one of his favourite things in the world. It was so un-Captain America-like, especially paired with her blonde hair and grey eyes.
"My suit's on the way," he explained. "Once it's here and you're up to your usual strength—"
"Your suit?" Annabeth's eyes widened. "How?"
Percy scratched the back of his neck. "Uh. Around last Christmas, I injected these micro-repeaters into my blood. They interact with my nervous system so I can control it with a thought."
Annabeth squinted at him. "Is that safe?"
"Probably," Percy said helpfully. "Trust me, it's worth it. I've escaped capture a million time simply because villains underestimate how bat-shit crazy I actually am."
Annabeth choked out a pained laugh.
"Are you okay?" Percy said immediately.
"It's fine," she gasped between shallow breaths. "Just...can't believe how insane you are. Shifted my broken ribs a little but it was totally worth it."
Percy glanced at her. Her ribs were broken, her abdomen slashed, her eyes bruised and cheeks cut from what could only have been a punch. And those were only the injuries visible to him. "What did they want?"
"What else?" she grumbled. "The serum. Used me as a bloody pincushion."
"But why the..." Percy waved his hands at her other injuries.
"Because I said no," she said simply. "And, um, told the guy he could kiss my ass."
Percy had to disguise a laugh as a cough so as not to alert the guards. "Oh my God. You're worse than I am at being captured. I once annoyed someone into giving me back."
The sound of footsteps silenced Annabeth's retort, and they exchanged alarmed looks.
"I'm not at full strength yet," Annabeth whispered.
"My armour's not here," Percy said worriedly. "Shit."
"No, it's fine, I can buy us time," Annabeth assured him. "Just go with it, okay?"
Percy opened his mouth to inquire further, but the cell door burst open as the leader of the operation strutted in.
"Captain," the man said with a southeastern drawl.
"Oh my God, you're from Florida?" Percy wrinkled his nose. "That's, like, the least cool state ever." Annabeth sent him a sidelong 'what are you doing?' look.
Buying time, Percy tried to convey with his gaze.
"And we'd love to chat, but unfortunately, we're kind of busy — I mean, I ordered doughnuts before you kidnapped us, which was incredibly rude, by the way," Percy informed him. "So could you just tell us what you want so we can go?"
"The serum," Florida man snarled, gesturing to Annabeth.
She frowned. "That explains why you took me, but why Percy? He doesn't have anything to do with this."
"Percy Jackson is probably the only person in the world who could break down the contents of the serum," the man said, turning a piercing gaze on him. "And you will do as we say, or you will see each other suffer."
"Um—" Percy was interrupted by the sound of clashing metal outside the cell. Familiarity rushed through his nerves; the armour was here.
Percy resisted the urge to groan. Mark 42 was, among other things, a prototype. It wasn't his best piece of tech, and probably crumpled into pieces upon impact against the wall.
Annabeth shot him a "seriously?" look as he flushed embarrassedly.
"What was that?" Florida man demanded, turning to his henchmen.
"Doesn't matter!" Annabeth yelped. "Um..." She trailed off, shooting Percy a panicked look.
Smooth talk him, Percy wanted to scream, making a conscious effort not to look out the small window in the cell.
Percy wanted to laugh and cry. He'd forgotten that, despite the image, Annabeth was probably the least smooth talker ever.
"I don't care what you want," Annabeth picked up abruptly, eyes darting to him for help. "My blood is my blood, it, um, stays in my body?" She cleared her throat. "Yes, and obviously as Captain America, the serum makes me a super soldier, and it gives me strength and advanced healing and an eidetic memory..."
As Annabeth rambled on, Percy was impressed by how she made absolute nonsense sound almost interesting. That was the power of Captain America, he guessed.
On the downside, it was becoming startling clear that Annabeth was stalling, and once Florida man turned back to his men with confusion, Percy knew their time was up.
Fortunately, the armour chose that moment to bust in through the window, smashing straight through the iron bars.
"Yes!" Percy released a sigh of relief as the first gauntlet wrapped around his forearm. "Time's up, you son of a bitch." Whirling around, Percy blasted a bolt of energy at the leader, who was pummelled backwards.
Annabeth broke into a fight simultaneously, but Percy could see from the limp in her steps and the way she rolled her shoulder that she wasn't fully healed yet.
Nevertheless, an injured Captain America was still thrice as powerful as the normal human. She punched the lights out of one of the guards before proceeding to sweep the other off his feet.
Annabeth shoved the rest of the guards out, slamming the door shut, locking them out, but also, locking Percy and herself in.
She arched an eyebrow. "I could've sworn your suit was bigger."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay, you do not get to sass me after that terrible speech." Annabeth flushed. "I mean, you monologue during half of our missions! You should be better at it!"
He threw a glance over his shoulder. "JARVIS?" he called out uncertainly. "Relax," he assured Annabeth. "He likes to be dramatic."
On cue, the rest of the armour hurtled through in bits and pieces. Flashes of gold and red surrounded Percy as he felt the metal latch onto his body, grunting at the force of some of them.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Percy yelped as he grasped the crotch plate before it could make him sterile and attached it by hand. Last of all was the face plate, which slammed onto his face, clicking in perfectly.
The whirring sound brought a wicked grin to Percy's face. "Now we're talking."
Annabeth gave him an exasperated look from her position braced against the door. Forces from the other side shook the room, but she held her own. "Can we get out of her now?"
Clanking noises echoed as Percy turned to face the wall. "JARVIS, any way we can blast our way out?"
"Sir, the debris would kill the Captain."
Percy sighed to himself. "Well, unfortunately, we might have to go out by the other—"
A massive explosion rocked the room, making Percy stumble. Annabeth promptly caught and righted him, looking around warily. "What was that?"
"Ceiling's caving in." Percy swore under his breath. He glanced to his right; Annabeth was growing paler. "Cap, you need to rest. You're still injured. And I can't carry if you if you pass out — not sure if you noticed, but you're like a muscular elephant."
Worst case scenario, Percy knew the armour could save her — like he'd done for Pepper when the Mandarin bombed his mansion in Malibu — by wrapping around her and protecting her from most of the debris. Unfortunately, he would die in that scenario, so that was a last, last resort.
"I can break the wall now," Percy informed her, eyeing the cracking infrastructure. "Grab on so I can fly us out once it crumbles."
Annabeth face was scrunched in hesitance.
"Improvising, remember?" Percy reminded. "It's what I do best." He glanced at her. "Do you trust me?"
She frowned. "Unfortunately, yes." Reluctantly, Annabeth stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't drop me."
"I'll try my best." Percy raised his hands. "JARVIS, let's get out of here."
The two beams blinded him as they smashed through the wall, the final blow to an already crumbling structure.
Percy waited until light peaked through the cracks, and propelled forward, an arm wrapped tightly around Annabeth as they smashed right out of the cell, swooping into fresh air.
His whoops could be heard as he stabilised them further out, spinning around to see what was happening.
The facility they'd been kept in looked about as evil as it felt. Dull concrete and shuttered windows. A building deep in rural land with nothing around for miles.
The Quinjet hovered overhead, to Percy's surprise, shooting missiles at the building. So that was the explosion.
"Annabeth—" Percy broke off in alarm when he saw Annabeth's eyes closed, her body slack in his arms. "Oh, crap."
Percy tightened his grip around her before he shot them towards the Quinjet, pushing determinedly against the air resistance.
"Percy!" Leo was the first person there when Percy landed inside the plane, helping take Annabeth off his hands. "What the hell happened?"
"Went to get doughnuts and got kidnapped instead. Same old, same old." Percy tore off his helmet. "JARVIS, how are the Captain's vitals?"
"Fine, sir," JARVIS replied from the ship's speakers. "The air pressure was the last blow, but she's just asleep. Initial scan shows partially healed ribs and a dislocated shoulder, but nothing fatal."
"What?" Hazel demanded, sliding off the pilot's seat.
"AIM wanted the serum," Percy spread his arms. "Who else is surprised? That's right, no one."
"You want to help?" Leo asked, gesturing to the facility, where Jason and Frank were wreaking havoc. "It's not critical, so no Hulk."
"I should stay," Percy said uncertainly. "Right? I mean, at least until she wakes up." He spared Annabeth a glance. "I have no idea what they did to her in there, but it wasn't pretty."
"She'll be fine," Hazel told him firmly. "We'll make sure she stays stable. If anything changes, you'll be the first to know."
Percy suppressed the concern in his chest. "Right," he managed. Annabeth was going to be fine. Percy blinked. "Right, the mission."
Hazel folded her arms, raising an eyebrow. "You never miss a chance for a good fight. You too worried about Annabeth?"
Percy rolled his eyes. "You ruined it." Powering up the repulsors, he shot out of the Quinjet and into the battlefield.
<<< >>>
"You sure you want to miss a chance to see Mr D?" Frank offered.
Percy crossed his arms. "Even if my life depended on it." There was some S.H.I.E.L.D. seminar on defensive fighting at their headquarters, but Piper and Grover were in town today, so Percy had a great excuse to skip half of it.
"Well, I am looking forward to it," Leo grumbled. "Can't wait for a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to look at me like I spit poison."
"On a side note," Percy pointed at him. "How cool would that be?"
"Highly stupid," Annabeth answered for him. "And don't worry, Leo, I'll spar with you."
"Oh no, you've avoided 13 for far too long," Frank declared. "I went through all that trouble to get him to go out with you—"
"I didn't ask you to!" Annabeth protested.
Jason's brow furrowed. "Who is this '13'?"
"Agent 13," Frank supplied. "Chris Rodriguez."
"Oh," Percy wrinkled his nose. "Oh, is this the great-nephew?"
Annabeth pointed at him. "Exactly!" she said accusatorially to Frank. "It's weird!"
"It's basically incest!" Percy exploded.
"Because that's why you have a problem with it," Hazel said. "And not because Annabeth has a date that isn't you?"
Percy looked over at Annabeth, exchanging exasperated eye-rolls.
"You know, I'm starting to think you aren't joking anymore," Percy informed the spy.
The team had taken to making jokes about him and Annabeth and their...romantic standing. At first, Percy had taken the brunt of it, but after Jason made a comment about it during dinner and Annabeth laughed it off, the others started to do it openly.
If Percy had a dollar for every joke they made at their expense, well, he'd be a trillionaire.
"It's getting old," Annabeth agreed. "Come up with some new material, please." She gave Frank a stern look. "And aside from the fact that Chris is related to Luke, who's kind of my ex, I just don't click with him that well. That's all."
"You went on, what, one date?" Frank demanded.
"Five, actually," Annabeth deadpanned.
"Oh," Frank relented. "Fine, then. Well, there's this other guy—"
"No more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents!" Annabeth barked, scrunching up her face with displeasure. "I have a new rule; no dating co-workers."
"Well, of course; S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are boring," Percy added, ignoring Hazel's glare. "No offense."
The defensive seminar was about as bad Leo had expected. Percy found it hilarious how afraid people were of the Hulk — honestly, he was just a giant green toddler.
Annabeth kept to her promise and when they were made to pair up to spar, she took Leo, seeing as she knew how to not trigger him.
Seeing Clarisse barrelling over to him with a smug expression, Percy grabbed the person nearest to him with palpable alarm. "Be my partner?" he blurted out. "Yes? Okay? Thanks."
When he released his grip and turned around, Percy was surprised to see that he'd picked one of the few agents in here whom he didn't recognise.
"Percy Jackson? Choosing me? Please, I'm honoured," the woman replied. "Let's pretend it wasn't because you're terrified of La Rue."
"Oh, no need to pretend," Percy snorted. "She knows I'm terrified of her." He took a real look at his sparring partner. "I don't think we've met?"
"Rachel Dare," she introduced with a sarcastic flourish. Rachel had hair redder than anything Percy had ever seen, and green eyes bright and lively. "I was on the Helicarrier," she admitted.
Percy's jaw dropped, a memory flitting through his brain. "Galaga Girl?"
"That was really embarrassing, by the way," Rachel groaned. "And it wasn't my fault; you have no idea how boring S.H.I.E.L.D. operations can be."
Percy snorted. "Finally, someone with common sense."
Rachel's eyes widened. "Oh, Mr D's looking. Quick, widen your stance."
To Percy's surprise, Rachel was actually a decent person. Okay, she was more than decent; Rachel was funny and had a nice laugh.
Percy didn't usually get along with agents — Hazel and Frank bring exceptions — but Rachel was different. Something about her was refreshing. To be fair, she was his only normal friend, other than Piper. The rest of his friends were superpowered and highly damaged.
Rachel was just Rachel.
None of that stopped her from beating the crap out of him. In all honesty, Percy thought he did pretty well. He held his own against a trained agent, and their final match was more or less a tie. Both of them were too tired to finish anything.
Percy flopped down onto the ground beside her, groaning agonisingly. "Why did I come to this? I knew I should've gone to China."
Rachel gave him a strange look. "Why China?"
"Furthest country I could think of."
"Wow, geography took a hit today."
Rachel's voice faded into the background as Percy's gaze drifted to the other side of the room. Leo was on the sidelines, talking to Frank.
Which meant that Annabeth was on the sparring floor, with some brunet that's Percy didn't recognise.
"Who's that?" Percy asked suddenly, gesturing to the agent in question.
Rachel peered over. "Oh, Chris? He's another agent. Grandson or something of the guy who founded S.H.I.E.L.D."
Percy felt something close to a rock weigh on his heart. So that was Agent 13. "He's not that good-looking," he muttered to himself. At least, not to him.
"What?" Rachel asked.
Percy cleared his throat. "Um, nothing." Something he couldn't name settled in his stomach, making him feel nauseous. Percy shoved the feeling away. "Ready for another round?" he tried.
The next ten minutes felt like an eternity as Percy counted down the seconds till he could leave. When the minute hand struck 7 o'clock, Percy legged it out of there as quickly as he could manage.
He got back to the Tower, still out of breath from the session and with aching muscles. When he strolled into the penthouse, Percy felt a grin surface when he saw Piper and Grover sitting on the sofa.
"Ah, my dear friends," Percy declared dramatically. "Thanks for getting me out of S.H.I.E.L.D. by the way."
He hadn't seen Piper in person since their attempt at drinks' night way back in February, and had only caught Grover about once a month since then.
"You look..." Grover was staring blankly at him. "Healthier than usual."
Percy looked down at himself. "Really?" he said incredulously. "I swear Leo overdoses everything he makes with salt. I thought I'd have heart disease by now."
"You eat what he makes?" Piper's expression mimicked Grover's exactly; astonishment.
Percy took a moment to realise that — oh shit, there was a time when they had to drag him up for team dinners. He'd completely forgotten about that. "He makes really good stews," he supplied helpfully.
"Who are you?" Grover snorted. "Next, you'll be telling me you eat regular lunches."
"Okay, you make me sound really bad when you say things like that," Percy said pointedly. "And yes, I do. Usually with Annabeth — actually, JARVIS, can you make a note for us to try out that new Japanese place down the road?"
"Annabeth?" Piper echoed. "As in Annabeth Chase? As in Captain America? As in the "tightass incapable of smiling" — quoted directly from you?"
Percy paused. "Uh, yeah." Had he really said that? "She's not that bad, actually. Kind of funny once you get to know her."
He took a second to think about what super had just drawn to his attention. He hadn't really noticed it before, how vastly his impression of his teammates had changed within the matter of a few months.
"You look like you got hit by a truck?" Grover informed him.
"I feel like I did," Percy said bleakly. "Except I only just realised it now."
As he glanced around the room, he began to realise that the two people who had once been the scarce few under the category "Friends of Percy Jackson" weren't alone in there anymore.
At some point in the last six months, Black Widow became Hazel. He stopped thinking as of the Tower as his but as theirs. Jason wasn't just an extraterrestrial friendly who battled with them, but was the man who somehow consumed more Pop Tarts than physically possible. Hell, Leo had turned to one of Percy's closest confidantes, and even though Frank still pissed him off — Percy doubted there would ever be a time when he didn't — it was in a different way.
And there was Annabeth. In the blink of an eye, she'd gone from his worst enemy to, quite easily, one of his best friends. That scared Percy a such as it surprised him.
The way her grey eyes sparkled when they were in battle. The casual banter they exchanged on a daily basis was no longer charged with anger and venom, but with a friendly rivalry and playful grins.
Fighting together had never been an issue — that was the idea of the Avengers — but going from a team to a family was something that had completely snuck up on him.
Percy wondered how he could be classed a genius, yet miss something as monumental as this. He'd never asked any of them to barge in on his life and turn it upside down for the better — they'd done it anyway.
And as Percy swapped stories with Piper and Grover that evening, chortling at Grover's expense and swearing on his life — fingers crossed behind his back, of course — that he wouldn't ignore anymore of Piper's calls, he realised that it was different with them; a good different.
Percy could be himself — himself as selfish, ridiculous, witty Percy Jackson. For the first time in...well, a long time.
And he looked over at Piper, and Percy knew he would always love her. But it was a different type of love. The same way he loved Grover. The same way he loved Jarvis when the butler had still been alive.
The pain that had clamped down on him for the past year that Percy thought would never fade — had felt as Piper inevitably drifted further and further away till she left for good — was gone.
He felt a swell of pride when he looked her, for getting through that to where they were today. Any lingering feelings had evaporated. And Percy hadn't even noticed.
"I'll top us off," Percy offered, grabbing the glasses. "The same for you, Honeybear?" Grover rolled his eyes when Percy mimicked blowing a kiss.
"Can't believe I've been replaced as 'Honeybear'," Piper scoffed. She froze up, playing back the words in her own head.
But Percy just chuckled. "What can I say? My Sourpatch always comes first."
The corner of Piper's lips quirked up. "I'll help you."
Percy tried to pretend like they weren't just walking in silence as they headed to the bar. He hadn't been alone with Piper — at least in un-work-related instances — since the break-up.
"It's good to see you," Piper said gently, once Grover was out of earshot. "I, uh, I know I haven't been the best friend lately—"
Percy raised a hand to interrupt her. "No need to apologise. Everything's okay." And he meant it. He hoped Piper could hear the sincerity in his voice, because he meant it.
"There was a time when I didn't think we'd ever..." Percy gestured between them unintelligibly. "You know, be friends again. But breaking up was definitely the best decision. I'm glad you did it."
"Look at you, all capable of having a mature conversation." Piper shook her head in disbelief. "You really have changed."
"Oh, don't count on it too much. That's the most you're getting for the next decade." Percy eyed her suspiciously as he poured Grover a glass of whiskey. "You want to say something. Out with it."
Piper laughed. "How did you know?"
"I've known you for almost ten years, Pipes," Percy reminded.
Piper grasped her cup with both hands, her face creased in an unreadable expression for a moment. "Fury didn't ask the Avengers to move in," she said at last, eyes angled up warily at him.
Percy blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
"What?" was all he managed to form amidst jumbled thoughts.
Piper gave him a sheepish look. "He suggested it, right after the whole Chitauri fiasco, but I turned him down, said it was a bomb waiting to explode." Her fingertips thrummed against the glass. "Then we broke up, and I was worried about you. No one heard from you, and you were all alone in the workshop, day and night, without fail. And I just thought...if there were some other people around, it wouldn't hurt."
"You invited the others to move in?" Percy echoed incredulously.
"Well, I couldn't check up on you myself!" Piper said exasperatedly. "And you and your stubborn ass refused to do anything except mope. So I reached out to Fury and kindly accepted his previous offer."
"Don't be mad," she said tentatively.
Percy thought for a moment. "I am a little offended that you thought I had to be babysat by five superheroes," he informed her dramatically, clutching a hand to his chest. "Betrayed, really."
Piper rolled her eyes.
"But it goes to show that you really do — and it kills me a little to say this — have the best judgement," Percy admitted. "In many ways."
He shot her a warning look. "But I'm still not meeting Hammer's new start-up."
Piper threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. "They keep pestering me," she complained. "If you would just meet them and tell them it's a hard 'no', then they'd stop!"
Percy whisked the filled glasses away from the counter, his own brimming with some very delicious apple juice — apparently Frank had a thing for it — and scurried away before Piper could talk about anymore business.
"Nice little rendez-vous over there," Grover remarked upon his return. "I don't feel left out at all."
"Date me and you can join," Percy said with a wink. The sofa cushions sank in as Piper sat back down, irritatedly staring daggers at him.
"So your team," Grover continued, curiosity dripping from his tone. "It's a little crazy to think that you live with the Avengers. What are they like?"
Percy gave him a scrutinising look. "You just want to meet Captain America."
Grover's mouth fell open in a half-formed protest. "No, I don't!" he said childishly, cheeks already reddening.
Percy hid a grin. "Relax. She's actually very nice. And in some kind of miracle, is even better than the legend. Don't get me wrong, it's incredible when she swears — which she does a lot, surprisingly, you should come over when the Dodgers play."
"She's the one you eat lunch with everyday, right?" Piper inquired.
"Well, I mean, I guess so. Sometimes it's dinner if neither of us can make it. And it's not everyday — like, if I'm on a business trip or she's off on a mission. Most of the time it's just her sitting in my workshop and doodling while I work, and then we take a break for food—" Percy cut himself off when Grover and Piper exchanged furtive smirks. "What?"
Piper's features were flawlessly rearranged into a smooth, calm composure. "Nothing."
"It's something. Grover looks like he's about to explode."
Piper turned on him with an accusatory look. "You are the worst liar."
"Sorry," Grover said unabashedly. "But it just seems like," he scratched the back of his neck. "You have a crush on Captain America."
Percy leaned back against the couch, releasing a groan. "Come on, not you too. Hazel is bad enough."
"Hazel?" Piper repeated. "As in the super spy who specialises in analytics? I don't think she'd read the situation wrong."
"She's just joking," Percy snorted. "She's just found one thing that's embarrassing and has exploited it to ruin my day."
"No super spies here," Grover said. "For the record. But this is what you get like when you have a crush. You go on about them constantly — I have many memories of zoning out during your conversations because of a cute barista who smiled at you."
"Okay, first, that's ridiculous," Percy said pointedly. "If there was a cute barista who smiled at me, I'd probably be back there—"
"No!" Piper interrupted forcefully and with visible alarm. "Do not need to hear about your sexual exploits, Percy."
Percy wrinkled his nose. "Because you're my ex?"
"Because I have ears, Percy," she retorted.
<<< >>>
As August started coming to a close and autumn loomed round the corner, multiple
things in Percy's life changed.
One; Rachel Dare was becoming a good friend of his. Once upon a time, Percy would've laughed if anyone told him that a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would be fun to be around. Apparently that was just his style nowadays.
While his team was like his family — yeah, following his revelation during drinks' night, Percy had decide to just go with it — Rachel was a good person to hang out with casually.
He'd called her up one day, proceeded to explain that he'd hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D. databases to her contact information, and then asked if she'd like to accompany him as his back-up to a meeting with Justin Hammer — yeah, he'd finally cracked under Piper's contestant e-mails.
After the disastrous meeting where Percy pretty much just verbally destroyed him, Rachel asked if he wanted to get ice cream, and Percy, eager to escape a meeting, agreed immediately.
They ended up having a great time — Rachel was hilarious, in a witty way. She liked art; mostly painting.
"Annabeth likes art," Percy had recalled. "Hey, do you know any good places to get art supplies for her?" He knew Annabeth would protest against it, but Percy was a billionaire; he had to spend his money some way.
So after that, he started asking Rachel to come hang out more. Whenever she wasn't on missions and he wasn't too busy with work or the team, and within three weeks, Percy was proud to say that he had expanded his list of friend to encompass her as well.
"Back from your lunch?" Hazel asked when Percy stepped into the kitchen, shoving his raincoat onto the wall pegs. "How was it?"
Percy shrugged. "Good, I guess."
"So you're seeing Rachel again, huh?" Hazel noted. Percy rolled his eyes when she squinted slightly, in thought.
"It's not what you think," he repeated exactly what he told Grover when he'd asked. "We're just friends."
"You're either blind or stupid if you think that," Hazel told him. "The woman likes you, Percy. Why don't you ask her out?"
Percy snorted. "There is a long list of reasons."
Hazel closed her book, walking over to perch on the barstool. "Please, enlighten me."
He hesitated for a few seconds, but Hazel's scrutinising gaze wore him down. "Relationships are too complicated," Percy said finally. "I've had my fair share of casual relationships — that didn't work out, and Ty is more than enough evidence for that. Then I tried serious relationships. I gave everything I had with Piper, and it still didn't work."
"I've decided that I'm destined to just be platonic with everyone; and it's fine, I don't really need romance," he finished dismissively.
Hazel frowned. "So you had a few failed relationships and you just want to give up?"
"'A few' is an understatement," Percy said pointedly. "Come on, you know I'm not made for relationships — it was in your evaluation — "Doesn't play well with others"."
Hazel stared like she was about to slap him. "You're kidding, right? You do know that I clearly made a snap judgement there."
Percy shrugged. "It's kind of true. I am a narcissist. You were very clear. 'Yes' to Iron Man, 'no' to Percy Jackson." He searched Hazel's hesitant expression. "What? I have never once seen you give me that look."
"That's because I'm rarely wrong," she said shortly. Hazel clasped her hands together, giving him a closeted, dangerous look. "Even master spies make mistakes. Both Iron Man and Percy Jackson deserve to be on the team. If you tell anyone that what I say here, I will kill you."
"And I wouldn't put it past you," Percy assured her.
"I was wrong when I wrote those things in my evaluation," she admitted. "Mostly because you hide your real self even more than I do — which is saying something — and it took me a couple of months living with you to realise that."
"Well, thank you for the kind words," Percy offered. "JARVIS, file that security footage on my private server, please. It's now one of the most valuable things I own."
Hazel rolled her eyes, but the exasperation was fond.
"And now I feel obligated to say something too," Percy sighed. "What did I say you were like when we first met?"
"'A little quiet', 'little bit of an old soul'," Hazel quoted back perfectly, grinning wickedly.
"I'd like to add to that," Percy informed her. "You were the first Avenger I met, you know? And I thought I'd never be able to trust a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but as it turns out, I might just be that stupid."
The corner of Hazel's mouth quirked up. "You're a mystery, Percy. You make me feel like I want to either shoot you or take a bullet for you."
Percy winked. "That's where I live."
The door clicked open, bringing about an end to their unexpectedly sappy conversation.
Percy felt his heart do something close to a somersault when Annabeth stepped inside, wearing a short denim skirt with a t-shirt. That was unfair, Percy thought. No one should have legs that nice. Her hair was down for what Percy could've sworn was the first time ever, and hung across her shoulders in loose waves.
Now, Percy had realised that Annabeth was attractive way back when, during the sparring session where she'd pinned him to the ground in seconds. But it was like the thought had become so much more prominent recently.
It wasn't so much in the obvious things; Captain America had always been gorgeous with her lithe figure and sun-kissed cheeks.
It was the fleeting moments where Annabeth understood something about technology after hours of explanation and smiled in the most dazzling, blinding way that stunned Percy to silence for a few moments. Or her I-hate-that-I-find-you-funny laugh, paired with an eye-roll; something Percy had very quickly become familiarised with.
Of course, Percy's momentary daze crumbled when 13 walked in behind her, and it became clear that she was laughing at something he'd said.
Averting his gaze, Percy gave Annabeth an awkward wave as she fell silent, realising that they weren't alone.
"Chris," she introduced. "This is Percy Jackson, and you know Hazel."
Percy rearranged his features into a cool composure; his media face. "Nice to meet you, Chris." He bit back a comment about the man's decision to wear mismatched trousers and shoes on what was clearly a date.
"I should get going," Chris said nervously as he excused himself.
When they were finally just superheroes in the kitchen, Percy turned to her. "I thought you guys broke up."
Annabeth hovered by the door, as if she was unsure of whether to leave or stay. "Yeah, well, he asked me out again after that training session, and I figured — why not? He's actually a really nice guy..." She trailed off, cheeks flushing.
"But?" Hazel prompted. She snorted. "What, he doesn't get the blood pumping?"
Annabeth pursed her lips. "Something like that."
Percy's heart was now doing something else entirely — squeezing like it was going to explode. "Yeah," he cleared his throat. "I'm gonna go. Have some work to finish." He really, really didn't want to hear about 13.
No one brought up the topic of romance until that Friday. And Percy had to say that, this time, he really hadn't seen it coming.
"This is nice," Percy remarked. He and Rachel were seated on the balcony of his penthouse, just lazing around and talking. "I mean, why don't people go outdoors more?"
"Because it's summer and hot and gross," Rachel pointed out.
Percy closed his eyes. "You know, I have a private jet. We should go to the Bahamas. Hypothetically, sounds cool. I doubt Mr D let's you guys have days off. He's kind of a dick."
He expected Rachel to chuckle, equally likely to join in with jabs at Mr D or to tell him off because respecting the boss was part of her contract. When she didn't reply, Percy turned to the side, squinting slightly at her.
"Speaking hypothetically," Rachel said slowly. "We could be...two normal people. On a balcony hats not part of an industrial tower. Talking about going to the Bahamas one day."
Percy hummed in agreement. "Sure. Let's say, uh, I can be an accountant?"
"I don't think you could be anything else, Percy." Rachel paused. "But, say, hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the guy to kiss the girl?"
Okay.
Now, Percy could be oblivious sometimes (Piper had apparently had feelings for him for years before he even noticed) but he wasn't that stupid.
"Um," he garbled, unsure of what to say. Alarm bells were going off in his head, like a warning "Abort mission!"
Rachel gazed at him silently as Percy frantically scrambled for words to say.
He finally settled for "Are you asking me out?" and instantly regretted it. Percy groaned. "Sorry, that was bad."
"No, it's fine," Rachel shrugged. "It's just, we've been doing this for a few weeks now. And it's been fun. But I just...don't want to waste time thinking about something happening if it's never going to."
Percy wanted to throw himself off the tower. God, he was sitting here with a perfect girl; Rachel, who made him laugh and liked spending time with him, and he just couldn't bring himself to think of her that way. He couldn't summon a drop of feeling besides friendship for her, and he wanted to punch himself for it.
"I'm really sorry," he blurted out. "You have no idea how much I wish I—" Percy cut himself off frustratedly, running a hand through his hair. "You're great, and so fun, and I love hanging out with you as a friend. But it wouldn't be fair to...to date you when I don't feel that way about you." He gave her a wary look. "I really am sorry. You're a great person."
Rachel waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I just figured I'd shoot my shot, you know?"
She left after that, promising that they could still be good friends, leaving Percy alone and feeling like a really shitty person.
Night fell and Percy remained on the balcony, lost in thought as he stared out into the skyline of Manhattan.
Why did he have to turn Rachel down? Why wasn't he attracted to her? Why couldn't his life just be easy for once?
"I'm just gonna be alone forever," Percy muttered to himself. "Well, me and JARVIS."
"It would be an honour, sir," the disembodied AI replied amusedly. "But I think you might want to backtrack on that statement."
Percy's brow furrowed in confusion as the whirl of the elevator drifted into earshot. Casting a glance over his shoulder, Percy watched in surprise as Annabeth appeared in the lift, looking both hesitant and curious.
"Want to join me?" Percy called. "I'm wallowing."
Annabeth pulled a face. "Yes, please." Percy turned back to facing the stars until the footsteps neared and Annabeth sat down beside him.
"I saw Rachel on the way out," she said quietly. "Sorry."
Percy exhaled slowly. "It's fine. She was great and all but..." As Percy looked over, he felt a flurry of butterflies erupt in his stomach. The words died in his throat.
Something about the moon casting a glow over Annabeth made her look even more beautiful than usual.
"But...?" Annabeth prompted.
Percy blinked. Right, he'd been mid-sentence. "Um, I guess she just wasn't right for me." Averting his gaze, Percy picked at the stones on the floor, feeling a familiar tug at his heart.
No, he told himself sternly. No, don't you dare.
No, no, no, he couldn't—surely not Annabeth—
"If it helps," Annabeth said, sounding tired. "I just broke it off with Chris. For good, this time," she added. "Realised I was just forcing it for the sake of not being alone."
"You're not alone," Percy said, without thinking. "You have me." Realising what he'd just said, Percy was glad that the dark hid his visible mortification. "And, uh, Hazel. And Leo, Jason, and Frank. The team's here for you. Collectively."
"Stop acting weird, Percy," Annabeth informed him, though she didn't delve into it.
Percy swallowed back some other nonsense he'd been seconds away from spouting.
But his heart hammered madly against his ribcage. Deliriously, Percy wondered if the serum meant that Annabeth could hear it. He sincerely hoped not.
And, of course, how typical was it that he'd end up crashing headfirst into a crush on Captain America? A childhood hero who'd quickly become one of his best friends. Who turned to actually be better than the stories, no matter how impossible that sounded.
Annabeth stood for everything good and pure in the world, and was so incredibly unattainable that in made him dejected just thinking about it.
On the bright side, it was just a crush — one that Percy would get over with time. God, he would never hear the end of this if his friends found out.
It was harmless. Feelings were harmless as long as Percy didn't act on them. He'd acted on them with Piper, and that had been a hot mess. He wouldn't make the same mistake this time.
As he looked over at Annabeth, Percy was sure that he would get over it soon.
He had to.