Chapter Text
Peter was bored out of his mind.
His patrol was nearly over and he hadn't encountered any criminals, or just someone in the need of help from 'your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man'. Karen had warned him more than once that his time was up soon, and he would have to turn around and swing back home to go to sleep before school.
The night air was cold and damp, even in his suit, and he found himself shivering whenever he wasn't moving. So he just kept going from building to building, doing flips, and freefalling from taller buildings just to swing back up at the last second. It was a dangerous game for anyone who would have seen him, but he just did it for his own amusement, in no fear of truly falling.
He felt great in his body, which couldn't have been said about him before the radioactive spider-bite. He was still the same nerdy, clumsy, socially awkward Peter Parker people loved to tease so much, but when he had the Spider-Man suit on, he could be a completely different person. He felt more confident, but not because of the high-tech suit or his newfound strength and flexibility. That was a part of it of course, but it felt utterly amazing to wear the mask and let loose, say whatever he wanted, to anyone he wanted, without showing his face. In the suit people didn't see him as a kid, but as a hero.
At least he hoped they saw him as a hero. He still felt some uncertainity about his decision to turn down Tony's offer of becoming an Avenger, but for now he was content just helping the little people with their every-day lives. Being an Avenger would have put May and his friends in more possible danger, and he still had high school to finish afterall.
He was so lost in thought, he barely had time to register the tingling sensation in his spine and how the hair stood up all over his body. He jumped out of the way, before something sharp went past inches away from his face and buried itself in the concrete wall he had just swung by.
Peter landed on the rooftop opposite the wall, panting, squinting his eyes at the object. He couldn't make out what it was, even though it wasn't that dark and there was plenty of light coming from the streetlamps. He only saw that it was shiny and long, glowing faintly. A sharp inhuman cry from below made his head snap around in alarm.
Down in the alleyway a bizarre scene was playing out.
A man was standing there, with at least 30 big, flying, somewhat human looking things surrounding the figure, flapping their feathery wings and screeching loudly. The man kept edging backwards as the creatures gave out sharp, ear splitting cries and kept leaping down at him, their sharp talons shining in the darkness. The man dodged each time, impossibly fast, and jumped backwards.
Peter stood there frozen, mouth slightly agape. His heart leaped to his throat when the man suddenly turned around and started running in his direction. The creatures looked just as startled, but there was no time to catch him, though they followed him once the shock was over. Peter moved back from the edge of the rooftop, squatting down cautiously to keep out of sight.
It all happened so fast, Peter was left speechless; the man stopped a few feet below him, looked swiftly around, then seemed to spot what he was looking for, took a few steps back and broke into a run again. He jumped impossibly high, catching the railing of the fire escape, and pulled himself up. He repeated the movement until he reached the thing buried in the wall that almost got Peter 2 stories higher, and pulled it free, the faint glow of the object illuminating his face for a few seconds.
Peter's eyes grew wide, face gaining heat as he realised it wasn't a man, but a teenage boy, probably only a few years older than him. He was good-looking too, dark hair and handsome face set in a stern expression, which made him look even more impressive. Before Peter could blink, the boy jumped off of the railing and rolled to his feet, moving as easily as people do while walking.
He came face to face with the creatures again, but this time when they attacked he was ready to fight back, as Peter only now saw that the glowing object was in fact a sword. The creatures leaped, and the boy ducked and rolled, bringing his sword down on the creatures he could reach, which evaporated the moment the sword cut through them. They disappeared with a startled screetch, dissolving into a powdery substance Peter couldn't identify from so far. The boy moved like the warriors you see in movies, slashing through the beasts with profession, twirling his sword in his hand and jumping back when a talon came too close.
Peter was so awestruck, he could hardly breathe. He thought watching the Avengers fight was something so amazing, something so unbelievable he would never get out of his head as long as he lived, but now that all seemed like a show of lightning and lasers and bullets compared to the deadly dance he was seeing. Because it looked a lot like dancing. Not like hip hop or ballet, mind you, but a kind of dance where you are paired up with someone, like salsa or rumba. Only the man here led his partners towards their deaths. Yes, Peter called him a man in his head by then, even though he knew it was a teenage boy.
"Karen...are you recording this?" Peter asked breathlessly, barely a whisper. He felt his nerves buzz as he watched the figure jump from opponent to opponent.
"Of course. I record everything you see, Peter." came the AI's clear voice from inside his mask.
The fight was nearly over, Peter could see that. There were barely a few creatures left, and judging by their movements, they seemed very discouraged to attack. The man straightened his back and stepped up to them in his full height.
"Is that it? You are not so brave without your buddies, huh? You should have thought about that before you attacked me." the teenager sounded a lot like a man, voice dark and dangerous, making Peter's spine tingle and breath hitch, his sensitive senses going crazy for reasons he wasn't familiar with.
"Scatter away! Leave me alone if you know what's good for you!" Peter gasped quietly, the mercy shown to the ruthless creatures completely unexpected after seeing such a fight play out. The creatures seemed to recoil at that, but recovered quickly and bared their talons, jumping to attack again.
The man had his sword ready, easily avoiding the creatures' attacks and sliced them to nothing in less than a minute, the beasts obviously aware that they weren't going to win but too stubborn to give up. Peter unconsciously rose from his crouching position, mouth still agape. His body went stiff when the man in the alley suddenly turned around in his direction.
"Who's there? Come down and fight, or leave me alone!" he shouted. Peter took a deep breath and began to climb down the side of the building he had been standing on, jumping from the last few feet, the stranger approaching cautiously and meeting him once he was down on the ground.
"Oh. It's you." the man said, letting his sword relax against his side as he recognised the Spider-Man suit. Peter frowned, kind of hurt at the dismissive tone of the statement.
"Y-Yeah. Hi. I'm Spider-Man." Peter said in his usual breathless voice, eyeing the sword with worried glances. The stranger must have noticed, because he followed his gaze to the sword in his hand.
"Sorry about that. I was just alarmed." he said apologetically, and with a quick motion of his hand the sword suddenly shifted into a ballpoint pen he pocketed casually. Peter couldn't believe his eyes. That must have been some serious tech.
"I-It-s okay. I'm sorry I didn't help you out." Peter stammered ashamed, remembering how he had just stood there.
"Nah, it's fine. You couldn't have done anything. Plus, it was kind of my business. They were after me."
"What were they?" Pete looked over the man's shoulder, where the creatures had been hovering just minutes ago, no bodies or sign of fight at all. It was kind of alarming.
"Harpies. Nasty ones at that." he held up his left arm, where a clean cut was softly bleeding, his faded orange hoodie torn along the line of the cut. Peter let out a startled breath. The sight of blood always made him sick, even more when it wasn't his own blood. "It's okay. I've had worse." he chuckled softly at Peter's reaction.
"May I ask your name?" Peter said quietly, slowly taking in the features of the hero in front of him. He looked even more handsome up close, the lamps now perfectly illuminating his features. His jet black sideswept hair and sparkling green eyes that seemed to change to a more bluish green for a few moments, his tanned skin that was covered in small pink cuts. He looked like a typical troublemaker, though his eyes crinkled like he smiled a lot, which gave his face a friendlier look. He was tall, lean, but muscular under the hoodie, which had "Camp Half-Blood" written on it with a strange logo, though the letters were a bit faint. He was way out of Peter Parker's league, that was for sure.
The man seemed to consider this with a tilt of his head, humming thoughtfully, until he made up his mind and stuck out his right hand for Peter. "Perseus Jackson, but call me Percy." he said as Peter shook his hand, smiling gently. "Nice to meet you. I'm guessing you won't tell me your name." he added with a playful smirk.
"S-Sorry." Peter felt his face get warm again. The smirk made Percy incredibly handsome. He was grateful then that he had the mask to hide his embarrassment.
"I get it. No need to apologize." Percy put his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.
"You called them harpies...but they are mythological creatures. Greek ones." Peter said curiously. It bugged him a lot. Were they aliens too or something?
"That's right. Me and my friends defeated their leader a few months back, and now they either wander around aimlessly or try to hunt us down. Stupid creatures." Percy shook his head wearily. Peter knitted his eyebrows together, confused how someone could talk about made up creatures so seriously like they were real. But he guessed there were more things he didn't understand than he would have thought, and that there probably was an explanation. Maybe he was talking about the alien attack? But the aliens didn't dissolve when they were killed. Peter then realised how rude he was being, holding Percy up when he was clearly injured and was covered in what looked like ash or dust. He guessed that was what the harpies dissolved into. It was getting more and more curious.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be interrogating you. You must be tired and you are hurt too. You must have been on your way home. I shouldn't hold you up in the middle of a dark sketchy alley--" Peter babbled on, stopping himself with sinking his teeth into his lower lip when Percy started chuckling amused.
"It's okay. I'm a bit tired, but I'll be fine. It's true though that I should be getting home." Percy smiled good naturedly. "See you around?" he asked as he walked past Peter.
"Y-Yeah. Sure." Peter said breathlessly, spinning around to watch him leave the alley. "I hope so." he added quietly under his breath when the man was out of sight. He felt so puzzled by what he had just seen. He shook his head, a shiver making its way up his body, the cold air only now having its effects on him again. He felt so hot when he watched Percy, he completely forgot how cold it actually was. He decided to stop standing around and began to make his way in the direction of his home, swinging less enthusiastically than he did before, mind racing about what just happened in that alleyway. He landed softly on the roof of his apartment, climbing quietly down the side to his window. He slid it up as soundlessly as possible and climbed inside, pushing the window closed behind himself, listening for a few seconds if May was awake by any chance. Once he knew the coast was clear he quickly stripped of his suit and put on his sleeping clothes. He was about to get into bed, but then he thought about Percy again, and he sat in front of his desk instead, pulling his laptop open and grabbed his mask and put it on hastily.
"Karen, could you replay for me what you recorded in the alley?"
"One second." Karen skipped through the day's footage to the scene in the alley. It was more surreal seeing it the second time, but just as breathtaking. Peter bit his lower lip when it came to the part when Percy retrieved his sword. His senses kept tingling and buzzing and made his skin warm. When he pulled off his mask he was breathing faster.
"Are you okay, Peter?" If Peter didn't know better, he would have thought he heard concern in the AI's voice.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks Karen." he set down his mask and pulled his laptop closer instead. He typed 'harpies' in the search bar. He had been right before. Harpies were creatures from Greek mythology afterall. Peter was more confused than ever. If the creatures in the alley hadn't been aliens, then what were they? They couldn't have been actual harpies. They weren't real, were they? He glanced at the time, and groaned into his hands. He knew he should be going to sleep, but his mind was racing and his curiousity was louder than his body's demand of sleep. He knew he was going to regret it, but he kept reading, looking up all kinds of stuff about ancient Greek culture and deities. It was very interesting. Peter had been considered a nerd since he started going to school, so it was no surprise that he found Greek deities and mythology a fascinating read, though he was mortified by some of the things the gods did in the stories he read. He read and read until his eyes were so sore he couldn't keep either of them open for long, and he felt so exhausted he could faint any moment. At some point he dozed off against his computer, snoring peacefully with the picture of a Poseidon illustration open in front of him.