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Chapter Text

Annabeth hurriedly scooped frosted flakes out of the small glass bowl in her hands. She was eager to get out of the hot, cramped hotel room, and even more eager to be on time.

  Annabeth was meeting Peter at the park today. The park, of all places? They were nearly finished with their project and had decided to use a few hours of their Saturday to finish it, though it had taken a lot of coaxing from Peter. They had just earned their official freedom- 2 and a half months of summer vacation- and while neither of the teenagers actually considered the project they were doing a burden, they didn't really want to spend one of their first Fridays of the break doing something school-related.

  Annabeth turned 18 in a month, and she was already almost finished with college. Being a daughter of Athena meant she was smarter than the average person, and her IQ was unbelievably high. The professors at Camp Jupiter had hardly known what to do with her, and before she knew it, she had finished the work of 4 years of college in just a little over one. That degree in architectural design was very nearly her's. But as one of Annabeth's degree requirements, she had to help a high school student with a project involving one of the categories: Engineering, Technology, Economy, or (her personal favorite) Architecture.

   The student was chosen randomly considering their amount of experience and knowledge, and Annabeth was assigned Peter Parker. Peter was an incredibly bright 16 year old boy who attended Midtown Highschool in Forest Hills, New York. He had curly brown hair and dark, chocolate brown eyes, and he couldn't go 5 minutes without smiling. It didn't take Annabeth very long to realize what a great guy he was.

  Peter and Annabeth had chosen a project focusing on how to better stabilize taller buildings in New York City. The teenagers had been meeting in various places for the past couple of weeks, such as a nearby burger joint, or the hotel room lobby, or Peter's aunt's apartment.

  They had already done a full 14 page report on the current problems of building's foundations and stabilization, and various ways to fix it. They had started a model out of Legos (Peter's idea) and were meeting to finish it today.

Ding.
  Annabeth jolted at the sound of her phone, before grabbing it and touching the screen alive.
  You're on your way, right?

  Annabeth sighed. Of course Peter was already there. He had a way of getting places quickly, though Annabeth hadn't quite figured out his mysterious ways yet.

  I still have 15 minutes before I have to be there. I'm not even late!

Well, its Saturday and I've got other things to do. Hurry up!
  Annabeth smiled despite herself, and finished off the remaining few pieces of milk-drenched flakes of cereal before standing up and grabbing her bag. She'd be lying if she said the past 6 weeks she'd spent with Peter hadn't affected her. She had truly made a new friend, and one as smart as her, at that.

...

  Peter had used the suit.
  He knew he wasn't supposed to use his web shooters as transportation to Central Park, or anywhere, for that matter. But there he was, swinging from building to building in his bright red suit with a backpack full of legos rubbing against his back.
Driving was boring, and in Peter's case, illegal, because he had yet to get his license even though he was of eligible age. Peter didn't really have money to spend on taxis, when he could be using his savings for cool stuff like Star Wars merchandise and lego sets, and food for his monstrous appetite.  Besides, Peter liked seeing the look on Annabeth's face when he arrived just minutes after she established a meeting time.

  Peter arrived at the chosen spot at the park, a tree secluded couple of square feet with a small, broken fountain near the middle. Annabeth had chosen it because it didn't seem to attract much attention, even though it was breathtaking. He hurriedly changed out of his suit and into a t-shirt and some jeans, glancing around as he did so. It wasn't necessary; though,  his spider-sense would alert him of anyone's presence if they came within 20 feet of him.

  After getting changed, Peter texted Annabeth a small message before dumping the legos and unfinished model out of his bag. They scattered and bounced into the grass, making small thu-dumping noises as they hit the dirt.

  A chime from his phone alerted him that Annabeth had replied to his impatient text. He thumbed a quick reply, chuckling at the distinct whine in the message. He didn't know what it was, but the relationship he had established with this under-age genius college student was different than any other he had ever developed before.

...

Annabeth parked her car near the entrance of the park before walking the short distance to where she knew Peter would be waiting. It was still kind of early, only 8:30, and the park was mostly filled with joggers and bikers. She and Peter wouldn't be interrupted.

  About 20 feet from where they had chosen to complete the project, Annabeth heard Peter yell.
"What took you so long! I've been waiting!"

  Annabeth felt her jaw drop in surprise. She jogged through the trees to where Peter was leaning casually against the broken fountain, trying to pull off a unperturbed and relaxed look but failing as he smirked.   

"What the heck, Peter! How on Earth did you see me? I was 20 feet away and surrounded by trees! And I don't walk loud."

  The last few project meetings had been a sort of unspoken race between the two competitive teenagers. Peter was always winning by a long shot, somehow, and it drove Annabeth insane when she couldn't figure out how he got to his destination so quickly.

  So Annabeth found it difficult to hide the frustration in her voice. What was this guys deal? Maybe he had enhanced hearing or something.
"I'm just very observant," Peter grinned, "Especially when I'm impatient. Now should we get on with the project?"

  Annabeth huffed, but plopped down next to Peter on the grass. He'd already set up the unfinished model, and sorted the legos into little piles.

  "Alright. Ringers off, no distractions. We're going to finish this project once and for all."   Both of the teenagers turned off their ringers and dropped their devices into Peter's bag, before fisting handfuls of legos and continuing to build their model.

  Annabeth and Peter had both reviewed the blueprints of the model several times, and so didn't have to talk much to each other while they built. They worked like a machine, and enjoyed the serenity and peacefulness of their surroundings.

...

Peter's legs started to fall asleep after sitting on them for an hour. He barely talked to Annabeth as they put lego after lego on the model, somehow afraid to disturb the tranquility around them.

Chapter Text

 Peter knew. Of course he did. She knew it the second he picked up his phone. She saw the panic in his eyes. Saw the rise and fall of his chest increase dramatically.

 Annabeth felt guilty for not telling him. She had offered to drive him to wherever he had needed to go, but he had disappeared before she could even formulate a plan. She wanted to tell Peter that taking a taxi wouldn't do any good, because surely no driver would take him to the site of the wreckage. They'd all be driving the opposite way.

 He didn't take a taxi, though. Annabeth ran out into the streets merely seconds after Peter left starbucks, and she didn't see him anywhere. She searched over the bustling crowd for a head of unruly brown curls, but her search came back negative.

 Suddenly, Annabeth saw a shadow of a man fly from 2 buildings above her. No, not flying- swinging. No-one else seemed to have noticed. Annabeth caught only a glimpse of the figure before it disappeared atop of another building, but it made too much sense to be a coincidence.

How had Peter gotten everywhere so quickly? How had Peter gotten to the park that morning without driving? Not to mention the fact that the shape of the swinging figure was slim, and kind of short, as well as noticably muscular, even from a distance. 

 Annabeth was almost certain that was Peter. Peter Parker was Spider-Man.

...

 Peter swung onto the Stark tower, before scaling the building down to the window that masked the avenger's common room. Peter saw lots of figures in the room, some sitting down with their heads in their hands, some pacing the room, and others staring at the TV in varying looks of horror.

 Peter knocked loudly on the window, making everyone in the room turn their head towards him. A figure that had been pacing (Probably Tony) rushed to the window and opened it, pulling him into the room by his arms.

"Kid! Whatthehell, where have you been?"

 Yep. Tony. He looked like he had aged 10 years in a matter of 10 minutes, and worry lines were piled on his forehead.

"You literally just texted me 5 minutes ago, Mr. Star-" Peter stopped talking abruptly. Tony had pulled him to his chest, wrapping his arms around him tightly. The hug lasted at least a minute, and Peter was out of words. Someone in the room cleared their throat awkwardly, and Peter directed his gaze to Steve Rogers, who was sitting on the couch with worry lines similar to Tony's marking his face.

  Tony pulled away from Peter, looking worried and angry and relieved and embarrassed all at the same time.

"Have you seen the news, son?" Steve questioned loudly, discomfort clearly etched all over his face.

"Well, I saw a notification alerting me of an accidental bomb falling on a building in Queens, and so I figured that might be why you all kept texting me, because you were afraid I'd been somewhere near the accident and wanted to make sure I was ok.." Peter quieted and waited for someone to confirm his suspicions, and glanced toward the TV.

 There was footage of what used to be an apartment in flames, wreckage littered all over the streets and policemen, firefighters and paramedics continuing to pour onto the scene. The news anchors were going on and on about how the damage was irreparable, and there were no survivors.

 "Well, son, do you know what building?"

 Peter forced his eyes to look away from the horrific sight and turn to Steve.

"Um. I think it was an apartment-" But Peter's eyes were attracted to the screen again, specifically the words at the bottom of the screen, depicting the exact address of the apartment. His apartment.

 Peter gasped, backing against the window he now wished he could jump back out of, and escape the pitying glances of the adults around him.

 "That's my apartment" He mumbled, feeling multiple sets of eyes bore upon him.

There were no survivors.

Aunt May.

 Tony was talking to him, something about how great it was that he hadn't been in that apartment, and how he could stay here as long as he needed. He could barely hear him.

There were no survivors.

No survivors.

Your all alone, Peter.

...

 Annabeth sat on the couch in her hotel room, mouth hanging open. The news was showing the footage of the apartment after the bombing. No survivors, they were saying. It didn't take Annabeth very long to realize what and who's, exactly, the apartment was.

 She had driven there several times to work on the project. His address sat on the screen blatantly, without regrets. Peter's apartment.

 If you hadn't met with him today in the park, he'd probably be dead.

 Annabeth nearly choked at the thought. Someone knocked on the door, pulling Annabeth back to the world. Shaking herself in an effort to clear her head, she switched off the TV and headed to the door.  

 She opened the hotel room door a crack and peered out into the hallway. There stood Percy Jackson, peering back at her through the crack and grinning cheesily. Despite the circumstances, Annabeth couldn't help but smile as she opened the door and pulled Percy into a hug.

"I wasn't expecting you!"She laughed over Percy's shoulder.

"And I wasn't expecting you either!"

 Annabeth pulled away from Percy and glared up at him.

 "If you weren't expecting me, then who were you expecting to open the door, Seaweed Brain?" She asked accusingly, closing the hotel door behind him and bolting it shut.

"I guess I was expecting a pretty, smart girl who would pull me into her arms and kiss me and make me wish I was never born- ow!"

 Annabeth had punched him in the arm.

 "What was that for?" Percy grunted, rubbing his arm.

 "You know what that was for," she grinned, before pulling Percy to her again and kissing him.

...

 4 hours later, Annabeth and Percy were snuggled together on the couch watching Karate Kid(1984). Annabeth was munching down on caramel drizzled popcorn while Percy was incessantly murmuring things to himself like Mr. Miyagi is underrated and You could totally pull that off, Percy.

 Annabeth couldn't help but feel happy, and didn't take the time to feel guilty about it while Peter was probably off somewhere, traumatized and angry and alone... And now she was feeling guilty.

 Pulling herself from her thoughts, she once again directed her attention to the movie, only to see white letters scrolling down the screen. Sighing, Annabeth grabbed the remote and hit the power button.

 "Hey!" Annabeth turned to a frustrated looking Percy.

"What?"

"I was watching that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It was the credits, Seaweed Brain."

"It was my jam!"

 Annabeth was about to shoot another insult at him when she heard a knock on the door. Percy shot her a puzzled glance. Annabeth was confused too. What was it with people randomly showing up at her hotel room today without letting her know ahead of time? 

 Percy jumped off the couch and had the door opened before Annabeth could even move. Outside in the hallway stood a scared looking Peter, who obviously didn't expect a noticeably muscular teenage guy to open the door. Percy looked kind of angry to see him.

"What do you want?" Percy all but growled, making Peter jump.

"Uh, sorry, I think I might have the wrong door... I'll just-"

"He doesn't have the wrong door, Percy." She shot him a glare, and he hesitantly backed away from the door.

"Hey, Peter!" She grinned, and stepped closer to the door.

"Uh.. I just came to say sorry for ditching you earlier. Sorry for not texting ahead of time-"  

"Yeah, its fine, Peter," She interrupted, "I needed to talk to you anyway."

  Annabeth ushered him into rhe room, before turning to Percy.  

"Percy, this is my friend Peter, Peter this is my... boyfriend."

 She grimaced at the last word. It just didn't explain what Percy was to her, and she was angry at herself for not being able to come up with a different one.  

"Nice to meet you." Peter murmured, looking extremely uncomfortable.   Percy continued to glare. Annabeth cleared her throat loudly, causing both boys to turn their eyes to her.

 "Uh, Percy, its been great, but your busy, remember?" She voiced, giving him the that's your cue to get out look.

"Uh, I'm not busy." Percy retorted, giving her the I'm not sure how I fell about this look.

 "Yes. Your very busy!" She exclaimed, pushing him towards the door.

 "Love you, bye!" She smiled brightly, before shutting the door behind him and not moving until she could no longer hear his retreating footsteps. Sighing, Annabeth turned to Peter, who looked somewhere between laughing and crying.

 She jogged the short distance to the couch and absentmindedly brushed popcorn off it, before grabbing the jumbled blankets and tossing them over the side of the sofa.

 "Sit down!" Annabeth beckoned Peter over to the couch, before slumping onto the seat herself.

"I honestly don't know why I came over, Annabeth. Its just, a lot has happened since this morning and I felt like talking to you for some reason-"

"Well, I'm glad you came, because I have something to tell you too."

...

"You didn't tell anyone, did you?" He all but whispered, afraid for anyone nearby to hear.

"No. Of course not."

"Not even your... boyfriend?" Annabeth winced. What was it with her and that word?

"No."

"I'd think you'd already know." He grumbled, fighting the urge to throw up all over himself. Annabeth hesitated for a moment, before answering kind of guiltily.

They sat like that for a while, Annabeth holding Peter against her, each of them dwelling in the silence around them.

 Peter stopped crying after about 20 minutes, but neither of the teenagers moved from their current position. Annabeth listened as his ragged breaths start to fade to normal-human breathing, and finally decided to pull away from him.

Chapter Text

She talked. He listened. Annabeth told Peter all about Camp half-blood, and her parents (specifically the one who was the Greek goddess of wisdom.) She talked about how she had ran away from home when she was seven, how she had met Luke and Thalia. She spoke of how she had always wanted to go on a quest, and her frustration of never getting one. She told Peter about when she had met Percy, and how he was a son of Poseidon. She told him about the prophesy, and Luke's death, and becoming the official architect of Olympus after the Battle with Kronos. She choked out the time when Percy went missing for 8 months, and finding him in Camp Jupiter. She spoke of the quest to save the world from Gaea, and living on Leo's war ship, all the while trying to keep Camp Jupiter from going to war with Camp Halfblood. She was very vague when she talked about falling into tartarus with Percy, and barely making it out alive. Annabeth told Peter everything after tartarus, all the way to the presumed death of Leo Valdez, and going to college with Percy in New Rome. And how Leo had shown up 3 months later, with a brand new hot girlfriend.

"So let me get this straight," Peter started, confusion written all over his face. They had been talking for hours, and Annabeth's throat was rubbed raw as a result. "Leo died," Peter continued, "And came back? Like Harry Potter?"

"Out of everything I just told you, that's what's confusing?"

"Annabeth, I'm Spider-man." Peter smiled. "I swing from literal webs. I've played Uno with a god of lightning who eats 3 boxes of pop-tarts for breakfast. I planned a prank on literal Iron Man with the literal Princess of Wakanda just last week. Nothing is crazy to me anymore." Peter paused. "Except beating literal death.

 "You sure like to use the word literal." Annabeth commented.

  Peter shrugged. "I just couldn't think of any better adjectives."

  Despite the dire circumstances, Annabeth laughed. The mood had lightened a bit. Though Annabeth knew Peter's wounds from this day were very, very far from healed, she was happy to see her friend smile.

 "Well, you're totally gonna have to take me to meet this Leo guy later." Peter looked at her expectantly. Annabeth smiled. She hadn't felt completely comfortable telling Peter her life-long story. The last time she had shared so much was to Damasen in Tartarus, nearly a year ago. Peter listened intently though, and it seemed she had partly taken his mind off of the traumatic events of the day.

 "So it seems we've both got places to take each other," Annabeth replied, grinning. "I take you to Camp Half-Blood, you take me to Avengers tower."

"Sounds like a fair deal to me!" Peter grinned widely back, and offered his hand for her to shake. She took it and laughed again, the events of the past couple of hours having taken a toll on both of the teenager's sanity. After the small bout of uncontrollable laughter to which the reason was unknown, the ringing of Annabeth's phone attuned to her ears. The name on the screen stood bold: Percy

"Hey, Percy!" Annabeth glanced towards a now more alert looking Peter, the volume of the phone no doubt reaching Peter's advanced ears.

"Annabeth? Are you giggling?" Annabeth hadn't realized the smile in her voice, and she coughed to try and return it to normal. Peter smirked at her.

 It was funny how people could go from sad and hopeless to... this, in just a few hours.

"Annabeth! Don't tell me your still with that Peter-guy. If you 2 are making out on that couch I swear to you-"

"αγάπη μου, you have no faith in me!" Annabeth interrupted, smiling in spite of  Percy's jealous accusations. Annabeth heard Percy sigh over the phone before he continued.  

"Anyway, I had some stuff I needed to tell you about before you kicked me out-"

"You were here for 4 hours!" Annabeth argued, even though she did feel kind of guilty about forcing Percy out so suddenly. "Anyway," Percy raised his voice over her, "Do you want to go get dinner? Otherwise I'll just break the news to you over text.."

Annabeth lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "What news?" She asked, glancing toward Peter, who was twiddling with his thumbs in his lap.

"Well you'll just have to figure out, won't you?" He answered almost gleefully. She could tell Percy was enjoying her ignorance.

"Listen, just meet me at that place a couple blocks away from your hotel room.. You know, the one with the really good pizza? It'll be my treat."

"Yeah, whatever," Annabeth replied in a frustrated tone. She didn't like not knowing things. It made her feel vulnerable. Hanging up, she tossed the phone on the couch she hadn't moved from for quite a while. The delirium was the only thing masking her exhaustion, and she couldn't imagine what the boy sitting next to her was feeling. She turned to Peter. His guarded form had turned to one a bit more relaxed since she had ended her call with Percy. It was almost like he was scared of him.

 "Sorry, Peter, but I've got to go. I'll text you later" she added, before pulling Peter into a hug and clumsily standing from the sofa. It took her quite a few moments to regain her footing before she headed for the door. Peter followed close behind her, and soon they were both standing in the hallway outside of her room. Peter turned to her, words in his eyes, but he didn't say anything. Instead he offered her a small smile, before waving and turning to the nearest elevator. Annabeth waved back, until the electric doors had closed and he was gone.

...

Peter cursed himself for not saying anything to Annabeth. A thank you would have been nice, at least. But after all that had happened today, he didn't have many words to say.

Well he did have one word, actually, but it wasn't a very nice one.

Peter rubbed his hands down his face, still trying to wake himself from the dream like state he had been in for the last couple of hours. It had been a crazy day. Peter walked down the crowded streets of Manhattan, not really thinking about where he was going.

Before he new it, he was standing in front of the entrance of Avengers tower. Why had he come here? Well, this is going to be where you live for a while. Where else were you going to go?

Sighing, Peter walked through the glass doors and strode right to the elevators to take him to the floor where his new bedroom would be. Tony had let him choose before he had gone over to Annabeth's, and he had picked absentmindedly, not really alert of anything he was doing. His memory still seemed to be in perfect condition, though, because he remembered the floor and room number, and recognized the interior as soon as he stepped in.

The room wasn't incredibly big, compared to some of the rooms in the tower. It had a spacious desk in the far right hand corner, with lots of drawers Mr. Stark had promised to fill with tools, chemistry equipment, and legos. The left corner of the room was occupied by a bed that could hold at least 4 full grown adults, and it was piled with comfy looking pillows and soft sheets. But the reason Peter probably chose the room in his anguish was because of the huge window, taking up almost the whole wall. The floor Peter was on was pretty high, and through the thin sheet of glass was a spectacular view of the city. Peter smiled despite the panic and exhaustion burdening his shoulders, and all but jumped into the pile of pillows, sighing in relief.

 He stared out at the sky just beginning to darken, and thought about what he might be doing if it was a normal day. Perhaps hanging out with Ned and MJ, and maybe even Annabeth, relieved that the time-consuming project he had completed with her was finally over. He might've been helping Aunt May cook dinner, or rather, insisting he help her as she shooed him out of the kitchen with a wooden spoon.

 Peter thought the tears would come, but they didn't. He was past feeling sorrow, past the short bout of delirium he had shared with Annabeth. All he felt was empty. Peter kept watching the quickly darkening sky, and eventually gave in to his tired body and closed his eyes.

...  

When Peter woke up it was still dark outside. With a quick glance at his watch, he knew he had only been sleeping for an hour. It didn't take very long for him to realize why his time of peace had been so short.

"Tony, honestly. Just leave the kid alone!"

"He could be dead, for all I know! He showed up without telling anybody and he's been in their for a while-"

"Tony, for crying out loud, your so overprotective!" Peter listened to Pepper and Tony grind at each other, crossed between some feeling of amusement and aggravation. After about a minute more of their arguing, Peter decided he was getting a headache.

"I'm not dead, Mr. Stark!" He shouted, and the hallway quieted. Soon the door was open and the bright light of the outside world was billowing into the room, making Peter blink long and hard to keep himself from being blinded. Tony apparently noticed the aggravation in his voice, because he muttered, "Sorry for waking you up, kid." He heard Pepper snort out in the hallway.

Peter offered a smile that turned out to be more of a wince.

"Sorry I didn't tell you I was here." Peter was tired. He really didn't want to talk to anyone. It seemed he had used the last of his energy on his chat with Annabeth, and the small nap he had had had done nothing to refuel it.

And Tony's anxiety certainly wasn't helping.

"Oh, kid, you don't have to alert me-"

"But a heads up would probably be best," Pepper interrupted, pushing past Tony and offering Peter an apologetic smile, "unless you want this guy to have a have a heart attack. Sleep tight, Peter."

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Pepper intercepted.

"Peter's not dead, Tony." She stated with an air of finality, shoving Tony out of the doorway. She offered him another small smile before stepping out of the dark room and gently closing the door behind her.

Peter sighed in relief, and once again rested his head on a dramatically thick pillow and closing his eyes. It wasn't 5 minutes before Peter was once again drifting in the dark empty oblivion of sleep.

...

"So what's the news?" Annabeth urged Percy impatiently.

"Chill out, Wise girl, we haven't even ordered our food yet!" Percy laughed, obviously still enjoying the effects of keeping her in the dark. Annabeth groaned, and Percy just laughed harder.

When Annabeth had arrived at the diner, Percy had been waiting in the parking lot for her. She shut the door to the car and Percy raced to the restaurant's entrance, holding  the door open for her and waiting patiently for her to a walk in on his good deed. Annabeth had rolled her eyes. As adorable as this jealous puppy ordeal was, she was impatient for this so called "news" and thoroughly frustrated at the fact that Percy knew something she didn't.

"So, the first thing we need to address," Percy started, pushing her arm playfully across the table, " Is why you've been living in a crappy hotel room for the past 6 weeks while you've been working on the Peter-project-"

Annabeth started, trying to interrupt, but Percy spoke louder.

"When you could've just stayed at my apartment with mom and Paul!"

"We already talked about this," Annabeth sighed impatiently, "And I told you, Percy, your mom just had a baby. She doesn't need you," she gestured frantically across the table at him, "and a brand new baby, and me!"

"But you wouldn't be trouble!" Percy whined, grabbing her hand. "You know you wouldn't."

Annabeth set her jaw. "I payed for three more weeks in the hotel room, I'm living for three more weeks in the hotel room! Besides, summer is here!, I can go be a counselor at camp whenever I feel like it." Percy looked like he wanted to protest, but a large pizza was set in front of them, and he sighed, defeated. Annabeth muttered a small thanks to the tired looking waitress, who nodded in response.

Annabeth returned her gaze to Percy to find that a large chunk of the dinner had already disappeared from the box, and Percy's plate and mouth were filled with cheesy pizza. Percy gestured to the box on the table through his large mouthful, and Annabeth tentatively picked up 2 slices and set them on her plate.

She nibbled anxiously, waiting for Percy to finish his plate-full and enlighten her with the knowledge he had. Percy finally ate his plate clean, and she smiled at him with as much patience in her gaze as she could muster.

Then she slapped his hand when he reached for his fifth slice.

"Enough already!" She pleaded. "You don't need that much grease in your body anyway. In fact, I won't kiss you until I have supervised that you brush your teeth thoroughly for 5 minutes and floss after this."

Percy laughed, retracting his hand from the now almost empty box. "Ok, ok, didn't mean to keep you waiting!" He teased, and she glared.

"Well," he started, "I'm going to California in about a week."

Annabeth startled. She hadn't been expecting that. "What? Why?" Annabeth waited for Percy's answer, only to find that he was taking an incredibly long drink of his Coke. Annabeth drummed her fingers on the hard table for a moment, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Percy!" She shouted, making an old man in the booth behind her jump.   Percy smiled through his cup, before setting it down and licking his lips.

"Well, I'm going to ask your dad for a favor." Percy smiled, obviously wanting to say more but holding it back.

"What favor?" She quizzed incredulously.   Percy looked at her, and his smile widened. She waited for him to continue, but his mouth was closed.

"What favor, Percy?" She nearly slammed her fist onto the table. He moved forward on the seat and leaned towards her. "Its-" 

Annabeth lifted her eyebrows.

"A surprise." He sat back in his seat and didn't stop laughing for a long while.

...

Chapter Text

"So why wouldn't you just tell me the news a few days before you go to California? Why tell me a week before?"

Annabeth had been trying to get Percy to tell her his "surprise" ever since he had finally stopped laughing. They had spent at least 2 hours at the diner already and waiters and waitresses were starting to shoot them annoyed looks as they walked past the table.

"Well, I probably won't see you again before I leave," He replied, taking a large bite out pf his seventh slice of pizza and chewing slowly. Yeesh. How much food can this guy hold?

"What? Why not?"

Percy smirked at her. "You know, you forget that even though you finished college in a couple of months, I still have almost 4 years of it." Annabeth sighed. Even though the school in New Rome let demi-gods start earlier in age(you never know when your going to die) didn't mean that Percy wasn't going to be busy for the next couple of years.

"Besides, I have to go to Camp Half-Blood. I promised I would visit Tyson before I left, too. And I need him to make something for me."  

"What?" Percy looked up at her, a smug expression on his lips, and she already knew what he was going to say.

"Its a surprise," he stated, looking straight into her eyes and trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. Annabeth slumped down in the booth, tired of the useless conversation.

...

"I'll text you when I stop for the night at the hotel in Missouri," Percy reassured her, throwing his last bag into the trunk of the rental car and slamming it closed. Annabeth sighed, eyeing the car in distrust.

It had been a week since the frustrating (or hilarious, for him) dinner with Percy, and a lot had happened since then. There had been a funeral for all of the victims of the bombed apartment, a grand thing that had been held in the prestigious Mayer's mansion. Peter hadn't gone. At the same time the funeral was being broadcast, Peter had flew into the ruins in his spiderman suit and mourned there. Alone. The only reason Annabeth knew about it was because they had interrupted the live funeral broadcast to show a shaky recording of a bright red Spider-Man sitting amidst piles of debris and shrapnel.

The video probably belonged to a bored guy wondering the streets in hopes of finding something halfway interesting, if Annabeth could guess. What a surprise he had gotten. If Peter had known he was being recorded, he hadn't cared. He really shouldn't wear a costume so bright. 

The media hadn't known what to make of it. They had left the funeral so quickly it was questionable why the nosey snobs had been there in the first place, scrambling to the ruins to catch a glimpse of Spider-Man and maybe even interview him. Except Peter was gone before they got there, number one, and number two: the site was surrounded by bright yellow caution tape and was therefore off-limits.

Ha. Dummies. 

"Its just a car, Annabeth. If we have to fight, I'd totally win, you know." Annabeth shook out of the flashback, realizing Percy had noticed her weary gaze towards the car.

"I just wish you would fly," she complained, returning her attention to him. Percy just stared at her for a long moment, jaw slack in shock.

"What?" He gasped incredulously, looking like she had just said something really stupid. Annabeth looked at Percy like that often.

"Fly? Annabeth, have you forgotten about the, like, king of Olympus who makes crazy storms and lightning and, by the way, happens to hate me?" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Just leave him some of your moms cooking as a burnt offering and you'll be good for the next few days," she deadpanned.

"Whatever. What's so good about flying anyway?"

"Its faster, less traffic, not to mention the fact that there's less of a chance you'll run into revenge-seeking bloodthirsty greek monsters-"

"Ok,  you just totally jinxed me," Percy groaned, sliding his hands down his face. "Look, I've got a 24 hour drive ahead of me. I wouldn't have gotten up at 6 this morning if I didn't have places to be!"

"You didn't get up at 6, Percy, I woke you up at 7 when you wouldn't answer my texts and I realized you were still sleeping."

"That is irrelevant!" Percy cried, jabbing a finger towards her face. Annabeth sighed, realizing how useless the argument was. "You really don't need to drive a straight 24 hours, Percy. Knowing you and your antsy self, that much time in the car is going to be miserable for you."

"I have a schedule to keep!"

"And I'm guessing your not going to let me know what schedule that is?" Percy just groaned, and gave her a look like why don't you just give up?

"Just kiss me already and I'll text you at whatever time whenever." Annabeth rolled her eyes once again, but smiled. She walked the short distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, before pulling her lips to his.

...

  "What were you thinking, Peter?" Tony was on the verge of yelling now. It was hard for Peter not to wince with each new word thrown at him. The worry and anger on Mr. Stark's face made Peter fill with guilt.

"We thought you just weren't going to the funeral because it would upset you." Steve started, sitting on a nearby couch in the common room. His facial expression resembled that of Tony's, but when he spoke, it was with a calm, clear voice. It somehow made Peter feel even guiltier.

"Then we saw this footage of a guy in a bright red full-body suit just sitting criss-cross in an off-limits bomb site." Steve continued, slowly standing up from his position on the couch. "You're not very sneaky, are you?" Steve laughed without humor.

Peter looked around the room. All of his childhood heroes were here, sitting on the rugs and various mismatched couches, or standing, in Tony's case. It was one of the rare times that all of the Avengers were together, considering the amount of crime happening every day. Relationships were just finally being mended, what with the last couple years after the disastrous Civil War being spent in awkward silence.

Until Thanos showed up and kind up forced everyone to come together again.

Peter hated the fact that all of these super-heroes were here, together, feeling concerned and angry at him. They could've been doing something much more fun.

"But that's beside the point, Rogers!" Tony all but screamed, making Peter jump and return his gaze to the exhausted looking man. Peter was confused. He felt guilty for worrying Steve and the other Avengers, especially Tony, but he didn't know why Tony was so worried. Its not like anything had happened. No one had discovered his identity. No one had gotten hurt. He really hadn't done anything wrong.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought this way.

"Why are you so angry at the kid, anyway?" Clint asked Tony, leaning against a chair Natasha was sitting on. Tony just glared at the archer, who somehow glared back and remained looking confused at the same time.

"Exactly!" Peter voiced, surprising himself with the sudden outburst. All of the people in the room sort of jumped at his cry, as if just remembering he was there. How do you forget about the literal guy your arguing about?

Tony looked at Peter, his face softening. It made Peter kind of angry. He didn't like being looked at that way. It made him feel like a child.

"Peter, its not very often that a bomb is accidentally dropped onto a building," Tony started, his voice soft in an attempt to steady it. "In fact, the chances of the bomb being an accident is so slim its basically impossible."

Peter considered this. With the technology they had today, any carrier would be heavily guarded and tons of safety precautions would be taken to ensure the bomb wouldn't be released until it reached its target. Peter's anger and sadness the past week had clouded his common sense. Accidents rarely happened when it came to mass killing and destruction. Actually, now that he thought about it, nobody even seemed to wonder who had dropped the bomb! He hadn't heard any reports on the news at all. The whole situation seemed off.

And he couldn't have been the only one who knew this, other than the people in the room with him.

"Its questionable whether the accident was even a dropped bomb." Tony continued, startling Peter out of his thoughts. It took him a moment to process what Mr. Stark had said.

"Not a bomb?" Peter stuttered, utterly confused. "But the building- you know- blew up."

"But," Tony started, a sort of gleam in his eye, one he got when he was thinking, "How many bombs do you know about that only blow up one building?"

Wow. He had a point. Bombs were made for mass destruction. One bomb that only wrecked one building? It didn't make any sense.

"Well what would it be then?" Peter asked, his voice filled with frustration. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this before, and he was pretty sure the genius standing opposite him had started questioning the moment he saw the footage.

"We're still theorizing," Tony answered almost apologetically, and he saw a nod of ascent from a nearby Bruce Banner who was sprawled out and taking up an entire sofa near the back of the common room.

Peter thought about it. The explosion could've been anything from a couple of carefully placed grenades set off simultaneously to an invasion of highly-reactive aliens. New York was a crazy place, after all.

But none of this really had anything to do with Peter sneaking off to the ruins of the building, and why Tony was upset.

"We still haven't told Peter why using the suit and visiting the site was bad." Vision reminded Tony, and Peter startled. Could that guy read minds?

"Yes," Tony began in an annoyed tone. "I was getting there. So you know it wasn't an accident," Tony turned to Peter, "When your apartment was bombed." Peter nodded.  

"So," he continued "Who exactly was the bomb meant to kill? I've gone through the apartment's occupant list at least 4 times, Peter. You know from experience I'd figure it out if any of the people living in your building had secrets."

Peter did know that from experience. He still hadn't figured out how Tony had known he was spider-man (let alone where he lived) a couple years ago.

"So?"

"So, the only person living in the building who might've made a couple of guys who had access to kick-butt weapons angry is Spider-man."

Wait. So Tony was saying... They'd blown up the apartment complex because they thought Spider-Man lived there? Peter hadn't told anyone his secret identity. No one that would try and blow him up, anyway.

And suddenly it hit him. Why Tony was angry. Why going to the ruins of his own apartment in his suit was a bad idea. The people who blew up his apartment must've suspected that Spider-Man lived there. They could have plenty to theorize about, too.

Peter thought about all of the times when he had swung into his bedroom window seconds before curfew and a lecture from Aunt May. All the times he'd flown out of his apartment window. Steve's words echoed in his head: You're not very sneaky, are you? They could've seen all of it.

"The footage of you in the remains of your apartment could very well have been confirmation to the bombers that Spider-Man did live in the apartment they bombed."Tony explained, finishing Peter's thoughts for him. Peter nodded, letting him know he understood his own mistake. Showing up in the suit would confirm that they had indeed destroyed Spider-Man's home. But Spider-Man wasn't in it.

And now they knew that, too. They knew they'd failed to kill him. They'd try again. They might even know he lived in Avenger's tower now. Hopefully not, but maybe.

But that wasn't what bothered Peter. Everyone in the apartment died because he happened to live there, and he wasn't careful to enough to keep the little fact hidden.

And no matter if the occupants were innocent or not, they stilled died because of him. Aunt May had died because of him.

...

Chapter Text

Annabeth sat on her lumpy bed in the hotel room, sheets sprawled across the floor around the piece of furniture after being kicked off in annoyance. She had grown sweaty under the layers, but was shivering now in the air conditioning. She made no attempt to retrieve the sheets from the messy floor, however, or leave her place on the bed to go mess with the thermostat on the other side of the room.

She just couldn't remove her eyes from the screen that was no doubt damaging her brain in some way. The blue light coming from the phone was the only light in the small bedroom other than an ugly lamp on the nightstand by her bed, and Annabeth was staring at it unwavering, tapping lightly with her fingernail when the screen dimmed in an attempt to shut off.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Each tap of the screen came with more force, impatience the energy behind the small acts. Why was he taking so long? Why did he have to torture her and make her wait? And worry? And torture her phone and her brain and her poor discarded bed sheets?

Annabeth had been waiting for Percy to text her for forever. She needed to know he was okay. That he hadn't been slaughtered by monsters. That he was only 10 minutes late of alerting her of his safety because of traffic or something else completely normal.

Wait. Only ten minutes! He'd only been delayed ten minutes so far from his arrival time?

Annabeth slumped into the only pillow still on the bed and groaned. She was acting like her dad. As if Percy had never gone on a trip before. As if being delayed a couple of minutes wasn't anything but normal. Percy was fine. And he'd text her when he got to the hotel. Annabeth tapped her phone screen with less force as it dimmed again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Annabeth let out a strangled cry of annoyance. Why hadn't he texted her yet? It had been... She glanced at the time at the top right-hand corner of her phone.

13 minutes.

Annabeth once again slammed her head into her mistreated pillow, stifling a curse. She didn't need to curse anybody over something as silly as this. She'd dealt with curses. It wasn't fun.

Annabeth heard a soft ding from the torture device clenched tightly in her hand and snapped her face away from her pillow. She clicked her messages icon and prayed to Athena it was Percy and he was okay and he-

1 new message from Peter.

Sighing, she clicked one the message. She wasn't unhappy to receive a text from Peter. She just wanted to hear from a different guy at the moment.

Hey.

Hey yourself, she texted back.

Wyd?

Annabeth pondered the simple message. Well, I'm waiting for the human equivalent of a torture machine to text me and I've been staring at this dumb screen for what feels like ages but has only been 15 minutes, she wanted to rant, but relented. She didn't want to sound impatient and overprotective.

Which is exactly what she was.

I'm just waiting for Percy to text me and let me know he made it to Missouri, she replied. It wasn't a lie. She just wasn't going to get into detail.

Missouri? Why?

Oh. Right. Annabeth hadn't seen Peter in person since she'd told him her entire demi-god life story, though they'd exchanged a couple of short text-chats and awkward phone calls since then. It seemed the bombing had not left Peter's mind (she didn't expect it to anytime soon), and it was hard for Annabeth to find anything worthwhile to say to him.

Annabeth had been through tons of trauma in her life. She was pretty sure Peter had too. Annabeth knew what it felt like to think no one understands the pain your going through, like the entire world is against you. People saying things like "You'll be ok," and "Everything will get better soon" just made Annabeth want to throw up. She knew they were just trying to be nice, optimistic, but in the heat of the moment, it didn't look like anything would ever get better. Especially in the event that someone dies. They're not coming back. And how can you get better when they leave and take a whole piece of your heart?

So Annabeth had kind of left Peter to his own devices, talking to him when he wanted to talk, leaving him alone otherwise. She knew Peter took a hard hit with the loss of his home, and his Aunt, and she wasn't expecting him to be able to cope so soon after the accident.

He's stopping at a hotel in some city in Missouri, I think Rolla? He's going to California to see my parents, she replied, stepping out of her thoughts.

I forgot I didn't tell you about it, she added as a quick afternote.

Why is he going to California?

Annabeth felt a smug expression play at her lips as she typed out her answer.

It's a surprise. Apparently.

Annabeth saw the little bubbles popping up at the bottom of the screen indicating Peter was about to give a probable snarky reply, when her phone dinged.

1 new message from Percy.

Annabeth nearly dropped her phone, before regaining her stability and clicking on the new message.

I'm not dead! :0

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing into her bed. A ding alerted her that Peter had added a message to their ongoing conversation, but she ignored it for the moment.

No attacks, or casualties as a result? She asked, knowing it was probably to much to hope for.

Nope. Unless you count the pigeon that pooped on the windshield. It was super gross.

Annabeth blanched. No attacks? A whole-day of driving across the country with no greek demons trying to suck out your soul?

For a demi-god, that had to be, like, a record or something.

Another ding sounded from the conversation with Peter, and Annabeth swiped it away hastily. Percy had to be joking with her. There was just absolutely no way that no monster didn't notice a son of Poseidon seemingly unprotected driving through the states.

Honest. Weird right? Percy said.

You read my mind, She replied, as another ding sounded from her chat with Peter. He probably thought she was dead.

I'm going to bed, Percy texted.

He probably would be tired. He'd been driving a full 24 hours, for crying out loud. And he had a lot of driving to do tomorrow. Annabeth had tried to convince Percy to split the trip up into more days, but he had ignored her. He said he didn't want to spend to much time sleeping in hotels and he had a schedule to hold. What schedule? Well, its a surprise.

Love you, Annabeth texted, before swiping out of the text and into the one with Peter. 3 new messages awaited her, one much more dramatic than the first two.

Huh. I get the feeling you don't like surprises.

So, I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow?

And

Annabeth? You haven't been eaten, have you?

Annabeth laughed despite the comment. It was easy to turn to harsh conclusions when your reply delay could be anything from her phone dying to being impaled on a stake by a chimera and eaten like a shish-ka-bob.

Sorry. No, I'm not dead. I was talking to Percy

Peter replied almost immediately, and Annabeth had a feeling he had pulled a leaf out of her book and had been staring at his phone screen the last couple of minutes in impatience.

Oh. Guess I overreacted. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to the Tower tomorrow?

Annabeth was surprised by this offer. Just a little while ago, she had guessed Peter was depressed, and wanted to be left alone. Now he wanted her to come to Avenger's Tower? He must be coping more than she thought.

What's the occasion?

Well, Mr. Stark was saying some dumb stuff about.... forgetting things? And having fun? So I was thinking, you and Ned and MJ could come over and... have fun, I guess?

Annabeth could practically hear the doubt in his voice. Obviously, Stark had tried to take on the role of therapist and had encouraged Peter to try and forget about all that had happened. She didn't know that that was the smartest way to solve things, shoving your pain deep down and pretending it wasn't there. It wasn't coping at all, just holding it off until later.

I did promise I'd take you if you took me to your camp sometime, Peter added.

Annabeth sighed. A day with Peter at the tower and out of the crappy hotel room would be fun, and though she had only met Ned and MJ once or twice, they seemed nice enough. Or Ned, at least. Plus, it'd give her something to do with college over and Percy gone.

Sure, I'll go. What time?

...

Peter was doubtful. He had never invited MJ or Annabeth to the tower, because MJ had only recently admitted her suspicions of him being Spider-man and bringing a seemingly unknowing girl to a tower full of super humans with super-human suits hadn't seemed a great idea anytime the opportunity presented itself. Plus, the whole ordeal with Thanos had kind of- delayed things. So it would be a first time for his girlfriend (it was a word he could use now) and his project partner (who was also his friend) to come to the Avenger's tower.

It would be a little bit awkward, because MJ hated everyone, and he didn't know how she would feel about Peter having another woman in his life that wasn't his aunt.

But that wasn't what he was really worried about.

Peter hadn't seen any of his friends in person in at least a week. He didn't know what he'd think when they saw him.

Peter tried to avoid mirrors, but he somehow always came upon his reflection even when he didn't want to. He looked like he felt: his usual chocolate brown eyes were dulled and sunken, the bags beneath them unnaturally heavy. His skin was pale, and his used-to-be curly hair now seemed to have stuck to his forehead in strands. He needed a shower.

He found that the usual energy that ran through his veins had left him, and he slouched everywhere. He talked less. Smiled less. It just seemed that it took to much from him to make these little things happen.

When Peter had seen the footage of the bombing, he had been horrified. Angry. But not like this. Not depressed. Because they had said it was an accident. And he hadn't taken the time to question them.

But then Tony had let Peter in on the secret: It wasn't an accident. It might not even have been a bomb. But there was one thing they were sure of- the bombers were after Spider-man. So it was Peter's fault.

Tony had noticed Peter's knew personality. He was pretty sure everyone had. Every time he entered the common room he felt pitying eyes on him, but somehow he just didn't care. Peter's life just wasn't worth living anymore, because how could you even want to live when there was so much blood on your hands?

Tony had taken Peter aside real quick. He had asked him what was wrong, as if he didn't already know. He had told Peter that trauma was hard to deal with, but if he could just look at all of the good things he had done, of all the good things he still had, he would eventually accept what happened. He'd know he couldn't have done anything to stop what had happened. It was best to just look to the future, and let your terrible past fuel you to do better things.

Peter didn't know how he had gotten forget about it out of all of that juicy stuff, and yet that's exactly what his goal now was. He knew it would never work. Nevertheless, that was his goal.

So he resolved to inviting his friends to the tower in an attempt to forget about the bombing. And Aunt May. If anything could make him happy, it was Ned fanboying over star-wars or MJ offering him a smile he rarely ever saw or Annabeth making sure they were being productive and not losing their heads.

They were going to be here in 2 hours. He really needed to take a shower, and put on something other than a baggy worn t-shirt of Tony's and spaghetti stained sweatpants.

Peter slowly came out of his curled position on his bed where he had been texting Annabeth and pondering his dark thoughts, and prepared to head to the bathroom two doors down the hallway and cleanse himself of all the sweat and stench that had settled on his body since his dreaded chat with Tony.

And maybe some of the dark thoughts and guilt and pain would wash off of him with the hot pressurized water, and go straight down the drain. If he was lucky.

Peter felt his spirits lift somewhat at the thought of cleanliness as he opened his door.

And there Tony was, his ear pressed to the door.

"Mr. Stark!", Peter cried out in surprise. How had he not known Tony was there? He must've been more exhausted then he thought, his Spider-sense didn't work very well when he was tired.

Tony backed away quickly, nearly tripping over his own two feet as he backed into the wall across from the door.

"Were you stalking me?" Peter asked incredulously, shutting his door behind him.

"Well, I was just wondering if you would take my advice and invite your friends over," Tony replied weakly.

"Uh, yeah, I did actually," Peter started a little hesitantly, "But I just texted. I didn't call."

"Oh. Ok."

Peter didn't know what had happened between him and Mr. Stark. Tony had taken on sort of overprotective quality since the bombing, something Peter was sure had been there before but that he was just now noticing. He didn't really know how he felt about it, or how he felt about living in the Avengers tower, but he wasn't going to complain. He'd be on the streets if it wasn't for Mr. Stark.

"Anyway- they'll be here in a couple of hours, and so I better go take a shower-" Peter tried to dive around Tony, but he gabbed Peter's arms and held him to where their faces were almost right across from each other.

"Listen Peter. I know a lot has happened this week, and I don't expect it to not effect you. I know we had a talk yesterday, and I don't know if it helped or not-" Tony had stopped to Peters vigorous and probably unconvincing nod. "- But the fact of the matter is, your in pain. And you don't need to carry this burden on your own. I'm always here for you, and so is everyone else here. We all care about you, Peter. A lot."

Peter did't know what to say. He felt oddly touched, and kind of guilty. Peter had made his ultimate goal to forget- to bury his pain, and yet here Tony was telling Peter not to do exactly that.

Peter wanted Mr. Stark to know he was grateful. That he'd do anything for him. But he just didn't want to make other people carry his burden. Peter just didn't think Mr. Stark understood.

Peter didn't tell Tony any of this, though, instead offering him a small smile. His shoulders relaxed in the mans grasp, and he pulled him into a hug. Peter's hugs were his other super-power. No one could resist, he knew.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark."

Peter heard Tony sigh, and put one of his hands on his back. With the other, he ran his fingers through the remains of Peter's curls that weren't matted and sticky with sweat. It wasn't a lot.

But the gesture made Peter feel relaxed, just as when his Aunt had done it and his Uncle before they had died.

Tony pulled Peter tighter to his chest and rubbed soothing circles on his back. They stood like this for what seemed like an hour, but was really only a minute or two. Finally Tony pulled away from Peter and once again held him at shoulder length, a mixture of concern and happiness in his eyes.

"You really do stink, you know. A shower is probably a very good idea," Tony finally spoke, his voice weak with emotion. (No one could resist Peter's hugs, and this was proof of that.)

"I'm kind of a genius that way." Peter replied, grinning.

"Well, I suppose a bit of me must've rubbed off on you,"

"Or vice-versa," Peter countered, earning a pathetic eye-roll from Mr.Stark.

"Alright, that's enough of that," Tony all but laughed, pushing Peter gently towards the bathroom. "Go take a shower."

"Aye aye, sir," Peter cried, saluting Mr. Stark and trying to keep a straight face, before marching into the overly large and fancy bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

...

The tower was so tall. And so clean looking, for some weird reason. Compared to all of the trashy, run down buildings with flickering retro signs and cigarette butts littering the doorways, the Avenger's tower was practically heaven. The sidewalk outside was newly swept and practically shining. The two glass-paneled doors led into a prestigious entry hall, with intimidating guards in uniform around every corner and gleaming chandeliers that reflected on the tiled floor that might as well have been a mirror.

Annabeth didn't let her surprise get in the way for long, though- She wasn't sure if Peter had told those guards she was coming, but she wasn't going to take time to figure it out. She put a determined look on her face and lifted her chin, and walked towards the nearest elevator as if she owned the place. She didn't glance at anyone around her, kept her focus only on the shining metal doors that would soon be sliding open for her. If Annabeth believed she belonged there, others couldn't help but believe it too.

She felt suspicious glances on her back, but didn't see anyone move through her peripheral vision. Her steps did not fault. She made it all the way to the shining metal doors and pressed the up button, and waited patiently for the doors to slide open and for her. She still felt stares, but she had a feeling Peter had told the people in charge she would be here, because still no one moved towards her.

Or maybe her act was just really convincing.

The doors slid open in front of her with a soft ding, and she took a brisk step into the small space. She turned toward the now closing doors, catching more suspicious looks still directed at her. The doors finally clanked shut, and Annabeth let out a relieved exhale, and glanced around, expecting the feeling of the ground falling out from under you as the elevator began advancing towards a higher floor. Only it didn't happen.

And that was when Annabeth realized she hadn't pressed a floor for the elevator to move to, and she didn't know what floor to go to.

There were 49 floors to choose from on the wall across from her. 49 floors.

Where on earth was she supposed to start?

"Welcome to Avenger's tower, Annabeth."

Annabeth cried out in surprise and looked around. She saw a camera in the corner of the elevator and a small speaker beside it, and realized the voice was an AI. That knew her name. Peter did give a heads up to the Avenger's staff, then.

This kind of disappointed Annabeth. Despite logic, she wanted to think that she hadn't been touched upon entering because she was just that good. Yeah, right.

"I'm assuming you would like to be taken to the floor where Mr. Parker is currently residing?"

The AI's robotic voice broke through Annabeth's thoughts. "Yes, thankyou."

The floor below Annabeth's feet lifted, and the button labeled 23 on the elevator wall lit up. Man, this place was fancy.

Soon the elevator doors slid opened with an emotionless "Enjoy your afternoon" from the AI. Annabeth nodded slightly and stepped out of the small space, into a brightly lit corridor with doors all the way down. The hallway opened into what seemed to be living room of sorts, and Annabeth headed in that direction. She had walked a mere 6 steps when a head of curly brown hair peeked around the corner of the living-room entryway. Annabeth smiled.

"Your the first one here!" Peter grinned, beckoning her into the wide room. Annabeth obeyed, and stepped through the entry.

Her jaw dropped in surprise. This room was like an entirely different building. Everything else in the tower Annabeth had already seen had been shining and organized, and very expensive looking. This room, however, looked a little bit like a furniture store.

2 couches stood on opposite sides of the room, one a pale red with large pillows of mismatched designs piled on top of it. The other was a dark well-worn leather, with a green blanket draped over that seemed to be placed in such a position as to be shielding something from view. Probably a stain.

In between the two couches stood various chairs and sofas: A lazy boy with the leg rest kicked out, a wooden chair that had been painted a bright green in an attempt to brighten it's look. A director's chair was placed by the pale red couch, it's back emblazoned with the word "Stank" in highlighter-yellow. Annabeth didn't know what that was about.

A purple woolly rug sat on the otherwise same tiled floor as the rest of the building, only this floor was not near as clean or reflective. Sitting on the rug was a large but short white wooden coffee table, piled with popcorn and DVD's and Wii controllers.

"Sorry about the appearance," Annabeth heard Peter say from behind her. She hadn't realized she had ventured into the room and was now gawking at the seating arrangement, and she quickly shut her mouth. "Whenever you've got 10 different super-humans all with different decoration preferences, things tend to turn out a little messy."

"No, its-" Annabeth cleared her throat and turned to Peter. "Unique."

Peter laughed kind of nervously, and opened his mouth to reply when the AI once again spoke, making Annabeth jump.

"Your friend Ned is here, Mr. Parker. I have told him that you and Miss Chase are waiting on floor 23, but he seems intent on preceding to floor 27. What would you like me to do?"

Peter chuckled. "Ignore Ned and bring him here, or go ahead and let him go to floor 27. Whichever one you think would be funnier, Friday."

Oh. So that was her name.

"The latter doesn't seem very wise, Mr. Parker."

"I didn't say it'd be wise, only funny, Friday. Do whatever you think is best. Also, stop calling me Mr. Parker. Peter is fine."

"As you wish, Peter."

Peter and Annabeth stood awkwardly for a couple of seconds, before Peter broke the moment and plopped down onto the lazy boy. "Make yourself at home," he exclaimed, gesturing dramatically around the room. Annabeth tentatively dropped onto the pale red couch and let her hands rest in her lap.

Soon they heard yelling from in the hall.

"I told you, Friday, this is the wrong floor! You must be malfunctioning!"

"If you make your way down the hall, Mr. Leeds, you will see that I am not malfunctioning at all, and you have been incorrect in your theory of Peter being on floor 27."

Soon Ned was stomping into the room.

"See Friday, I told- oh."

The AI made a sound that sounded almost something like a laugh, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile.

Ned Leeds was a marshmallow of a boy, kind and enthusiastic. She had personally witnessed one of Peter and Ned's fanboy sessions, and she knew that this kid was about as dangerous or intimidating as a teddy bear.

"Mr. Parker-" The AI stopped abruptly to Peter's cry of "ITS PETER!" and then continued as if nothing had happened. "Miss Jones has arrived, and she will join you and your present company in approximately 46 seconds.

Ned startled. He had barely taken 3 steps into the room. "Is she following me?"

"You might just be incredibly slow, my friend." Peter said sarcastically, patting Ned on the back and leading him to the leather couch with the blanket over it. Soon clacking heels were heard coming down the hallway, and an intimidating looking Michelle Jones stepped into the room, sketchbook in hand and a pencil sitting behind her ear. Her curly brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail on her back, and her brows were pulled taut in something between anger and concentration.

And she was staring right at Annabeth.

Annabeth had worried about this. She had only met MJ once, when she was going to meet Peter to work on the project. Annabeth was waiting at the entrance of Peter's apartment, where he had asked her to meet him by text earlier in the day.

They had gotten off the bus together; arm in arm. Peter had had a goofy smile on his face, one she saw Percy wear often. Boys could never keep their composure around girls.

Peter had seen Annabeth almost immediately, and had made a bee line towards her. Michelle, however, had faltered, and that was when Annabeth had known that Peter had neglected to to tell his girlfriend that he was doing a project with someone who just happened to also be a girl.

Michelle had quickly regained her composure and soon caught up with Peter, and she had looked Annabeth in the eyes and had glared daggers at her. The message was clear: Back off. Annabeth hadn't said anything, just looked back at the girl with less desires to kill, and had cringed on the inside every time Peter had cleared his throat loudly in an attempt to make MJ's gaze return to him. It had taken three loud, very painful sounding throat-clears.

Ah. Jealousy.

Annabeth had danced from foot to foot awkwardly as Peter decided inconveniently that that was the perfect time to tell Michelle what Annabeth was and wasn't to him. At the end of the conversation, she hadn't relinquished her icy gaze and attitude toward Annabeth, but she had held out her hand rather forcefully for Annabeth to shake.

It's Michelle. Nice to meet you.

She didn't look like it was very nice to meet her at all.

"Nice to see you again, MJ," Ned had disrupted the awkward silence in the room with an unconvincing relaxed greeting. MJ glanced toward Ned and offered a small smile, and then proceeded to sit beside Peter. Really close.

Geez.

"Ok, did I not already explain this?" Peter laughed nervously, glancing towards Michelle. "She has a boyfriend too, you know. And it's not me."

"So you can stop glaring at Annabeth now." Ned added, sounding relieved someone other than him had disrupted the weird moment.

MJ gazed around the room for a few seconds, before crossing one leg over the other and slumping into the couch. The pencil behind her ear tilted slightly, but she ignored it.

"I glare at everyone." She deadpanned, but her voice sounded just a tiny bit lighter than it had the last she'd talked in front of Annabeth. She sounded kind of reassured. Kind of.

"So let's get on with the party, then."

...

It took a little while, but everyone seemed to be having fun now. Not wanting to cut each other's throats out, at least.

But that really only applied to MJ.

They had watched Empire Strikes Back, one of Peter's and Ned's favorite movies. Peter didn't know if Michelle or Annabeth had liked it, though. The movie had started, Annabeth had pointed something out about architectural design, and MJ had (surprisingly) agreed with her.

It took about 0.2 seconds before the girls were sprawled on the carpet next to each other, pouring over MJ's sketchbook and Annabeth's laptop full of all of her building design ideas Peter hadn't noticed her carrying, talking about everything from dumb guys to slave labor (one of Michelle's favorite topics.) It wasn't even very long before Michelle told Annabeth she could call her MJ.

Pretty soon, Peter and Ned were yelling for the 2 of them to shut up and watch the movie, and so they had taken the bowl of popcorn and left the room to have their deep conversations in peace.

"Just us, then. Just like old times, bro."

Ned sighed, reaching into the replacement bowl of popcorn they had made earlier after the girl's had taken the first one.

"Yep."

"I hate when girl's get together like that, man. You know what I mean?" Ned turned to Peter.

"Yep."

"It freaks me out, dude. I always thought MJ was different. From the small amount of time I talked to Annabeth, I thought she was different to. And smart. To bad she's taken."

Peter snorted at this. He had been ignoring Ned's rant, instead focusing on the movie he knew by heart, but this was just hilarious. Annabeth and Ned? As if.

Besides, Peter hadn't told anyone about Annabeth being a demi-god, and he knew Ned's little crush that had burned out very quickly would flair up again if he knew about her kick-butt abilities.

"What? You don't think she'd take me?"

At this, Peter just shook his head, and turned the volume on the movie up.

"That's cold, bro. Really cold." Ned pretended to be offended, but he was smiling. He redirected his attention to the screen and plopped some more popcorn into his mouth.

Peter couldn't believe Tony's advice had worked. He felt blissfully happy, relaxed. He hadn't forgotten about the bombing (he didn't think he'd ever forget, despite his goals), but he was able to put it aside for a moment. He was at the avenger's tower, eating popcorn and fanboying with his best friend, and his girlfriend and other friend that was also a girl were suddenly inseparable. No awkwardness.

It was pretty great.

"Why is it so dark in here?"

Peter jumped at the new voice. How the heck did you not hear it coming?

My Spider-sense is on crack, apparently.

Peter flew off the couch as Ned yelped and slid off of it. The lights flickered on and the movie paused, so FRIDAY must've been paying attention.

A floating red man stood at the entrance of the room. Peter relaxed when he realized who it was. His power had never worked on Vision, for some reason. Maybe it was because he was part robot? Or that he could walk straight through things? Either way, it made Peter feel better to know that his spidey-sense was still working.

He felt even more reassured when he was alerted of Wanda journeying up the elevator 6 floors down.

"You two are not making out, are you?" Vision teased, though his usual robotic voice ruined the playful mood. Peter glanced down at Ned on the floor, who looked somewhere between laughing and crying.

"It was really fun, too." Peter replied sarcastically. Vision just looked confused.

"Sarcasm, Vis. I've been coaching you on it, remember?"

"Oh. Yes, I remember." Vision muttered, embarrassed.

"I thought you were having a party. That only looks like one friend to me." Wanda had just entered the room and stood beside Vision, and was now smirking at the crumpled pile of person covered in popcorn that was Ned. He was staring up at the superheroes now, his gaze somewhere between excitement and embarrassment and horror. It wasn't a good look for him.

"So where are the rest of your buds, Peter?" Wanda had turned back to him, still on the verge of laughing at how Vision had frightened them. Actually, now that he thought about it, the fact that Wanda came in almost a minute after Vision meant that they had remembered how Peter couldn't sense the super-bot and had planned the whole thing. Friday might've been in on it too, considering she didn't tell him Vision was there.

How rude.

"Ned isn't the only person here, Wanda." Peter rolled his eyes and retook his seat on the couch, brushing popcorn off of his jeans. "Michelle and Annabeth are upstairs, and I invited Shuri, but she was busy. And she lives in Wakanda, so the short-notice was kind of a problem."

"So three out of four friends? Kind of sad, Parker."

Peter just glared, and Wanda laughed.

"Thomas Fuller once said that if you have one true friend you have more than your share." Vision said matter-of-factly, and Peter smirked at Wanda.

"See? Your guy knows, Maximoff. You should listen to him sometimes."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "He just got it off of google."

"Google knows." Ned deadpanned, who had finally overcome his surprise and had decided to join the argument.

"What is going on down there?" Peter heard Annabeth yell from down the hallway. Soon both of the girls were standing in the living room. Both Michelle and Annabeth were good at hiding their emotions (MJ just always looked indifferent and Annabeth seemed to have been born with the talent), but Peter could tell both of the girls were surprised to see the super-couple leaning against the pale red couch.

"So, is this like a-" Vision spoke up in the girl's awed silence, his usual emotionless voice taking on a hint of snarkiness,"double date? Is that what you call it? Because if so, you don't seem to be doing it correctly." Vision gestured at the 2 boys sitting on the couch and the hallway the girl's had just come from. "You are supposed to be together."

"Um, no, its not." Annabeth deadpanned, having overcome her surprise. MJ nodded in assent, glancing at Ned with a smirk on her face. As if.

Great minds think alike.

"What are you two doing here, anyway? I booked this floor for four hours. It's off limits." Peter got up to push Vision and Wanda out through the door which they came, but Vision, being the annoying super strong robot he was, didn't move or sway at all when Peter placed his hands on his shoulder's and pushed with all his might. Wanda just smirked at his struggling, and Annabeth and Michelle followed suit.

"Ugh. Curse Mr. Stark and his robots!" Peter relented and sat back onto the couch, glaring at the couple.

"We thought we'd join the party, spider-ling. Do you object?" Wanda's eyebrows shot up towards the girls, asking for their answer rather than Peter's.

"Does me not trying to push you out the door seem like an objection to you? Go away."

Peter wished for a normal life all the time. He loved being spider-man, sure, but he'd give up his power any day if it meant he could live care-free, and not in constant danger. Bombers wouldn't be wanting to blow up the apartment he lived in because of what he'd done. Aunt May would still be alive, and maybe even Uncle Ben too.

And hanging out with friends from school and watching a movie was a rare thing, because it was just so normal. And, yeah, they were hanging out in the Avenger's Tower, but Peter could look over that small detail. He couldn't look over the fact that Vision and The Scarlet Witch were standing in the same room as him and talking to him like annoying, bossy older siblings. That wasn't normal.

Its not that he didn't like the presence of the superheroes- it was just the wrong time.

And Peter was still kind of mad (mad that he didn't think of it before) about the prank.

The couple were probably just trying to act normal around him, anyway, have some fun. Make him feel better. He didn't really mind.

"Its cool with us." MJ replied, disinterested, and Annabeth shrugged.

"I think it'd be awesome" Ned added, dreamy eyed.

"Thanks for the support man." Peter sighed. "Stay. Whatever."

Wanda threw her hands up in the air in victory as the girls made their way to the leather couch Vision was leaning against. Ned looked very pleased that the superheroes were joining the party. Peter knew it wasn't what he'd planned, but he was good. Get-togethers with avengers were interesting. Wanda closest to his age (other than Shuri) and she could totally plan a great party. Vision was- Vision.

But Peter was a super-hero. And being with other super-heroes reminded him of what he was. Being reminded of what he was reminded him of the bombing. The bombing made him upset.

He didn't want to get upset in front of his friends.

Nevertheless, he knew Wanda and Vision were just trying to be nice and would accept their gesture, however futile it may be.

"Just so we're clear, though, if Thor decides to join the party too, I am not paying for his pop-tarts."

Chapter Text

"So he is going all the way to California just to ask your dad for a favor?"

MJ and Annabeth had been talking for a while after abandoning the boys in the common room, mostly about their favorite projects and their aspiring relationships. Annabeth had been telling Michelle about Percy's "surprise" trip, leaving out anything about demi-gods. She didn't think Peter had told his girlfriend about her life, and Annabeth wasn't sure if she wanted the girl sitting next to her to know.

"That's what he told me."

"Does Percy have a dad living here locally?" MJ asked, scribbling in her sketchbook absentmindedly.

"Yeah. His stepdad lives in Manhattan."

Michelle glanced up at Annabeth, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. "And you said he asked his brother to make him something before he left?"

"Uh, yeah. I don't know how that relates, though." Annabeth didn't know where MJ was going with this.

"What does Percy's brother do?" MJ had set her pencil down now and was staring at the bed spread they were sitting on in deep concentration. They had chosen a random empty guest room down the hallway from where the boys were, with had a humongous bed that they could both easily lounge on.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does he have a job? What does he make?"

"Well, he welds. Its kind of a talent, though, not really a job." Annabeth still didn't know why Michelle thought this was important.

"How long have you and Percy known each other?" MJ questioned, running her fingers along a design on the bed cover.

"Almost 6 years."

MJ nodded, brows furrowed. "I have a theory."

"What?" There was no way Michelle knew what Percy's "surprise" was.

"What if Percy went to San Francisco to ask your dad for his blessing?"

It took a minute for Annabeth to realize what MJ was saying. And when she did comprehend it, it still didn't make any sense.

"You think he's going to propose to me?" Annabeth asked incredulously, her gaze shooting up towards Michelle for explanation.

"Well, think about it. Any favor he needed your dad to do, he could probably just ask his stepdad or do it himself. Plus, you two have known each other for a long time."

Annabeth pondered this. They had known each other for a while. She was already sure Percy would propose to her at some point in the future, but she hadn't expected it so soon.

"I mean, I could be wrong. But then you also said Percy had had his brother make something for him- maybe a ring? I don't know, it's really far-fetched." Michelle looked like maybe she doubted her theory, but Annabeth saw the logic in it.

Percy and her dad weren't on close terms. Asking for his blessing might've been one of the only reasons Percy would go to California, considering the amount of monsters and danger there. Plus, Tyson was great at welding. He'd once made Percy a watch that turned into a shield, for crying out loud. And Tyson's craft would mean so much more than a store-bought diamond. Not to mention the fact that Annabeth turned 18 in three weeks...

Gods of olympus, he is going to propose.

"You think it might be a possibility, too?" Michelle had seen the dawning on Annabeth's face.

"I can't believe I didn't think of it before."

As a demi-god, your chances of spontaneously dying tomorrow were higher than a normal person. That was why they started college a year earlier, and maybe why Percy would marry her earlier, too. It was just like something he would do.

And she wanted to, of course she did. If he asked her, she would say yes.

She couldn't believe she hadn't put two and two together.

And now Annabeth found herself hoping Percy would propose. Hoping MJ was right. This was something Annabeth hadn't realized she'd wanted until this moment.

She found herself grinning dreamily up at Michelle, who was grinning awkwardly back.

"Why is it so dark in here?"

...

Turns out, Thor did show up to the party a mere half-hour after Wanda and Vision. Then Clint and Natasha, Sam and Rhodey, Steve and Bucky, Scott and Hope, Bruce, Pepper and Tony, and an excited looking Morgan. Rocket and Groot even made an appearance, though the enhanced raccoon claimed that other than Thor, him and The Tree, the rest of the guardians had opted to explore New York while they were on earth. They're a bunch of losers, he had exclaimed incredulously.

It was totally planned. 17 people, the majority with busy schedules, 3 that spent most of their time in space, didn't just show up on the very floor Peter was having a get-together on in the same hour. They didn't bring pizza and sodas to feed an army and various video games to satisfy an entire geek convention, either.

Peter just didn't know why. This had obviously been Tony's doing, what with him encouraging Peter to invite his friends over and such, but did Mr. Stark think this would make him feel better? Surely he knew that Peter liked to keep his co-workers/super family separated from his social life.

Peter wasn't mad everyone was there; he was always happy to see the avengers. Especially all in one place, having fun. Together. That was a rare sight.

It was just a lot. Very soon. His friends had not been warned of the unexpected crowd, and who knew if they even wanted to be there. But more than that, Peter didn't know if he wanted to have fun. He didn't deserve to. He felt so guilty.

How could you be attending a super awesome party with the literal Avengers only a week after you basically burned down a building full of people?

Ok, so Tony had told Peter repeatedly not to blame himself for the incident, they were now calling it, but Mr. Stark just didn't understand. The bombers had meant to kill him. If Peter didn't exist, none of this would've ever happened.

Ok, maybe it wasn't exactly his fault he existed. But he was Spider-Man. He made that choice. And he wasn't careful. Nothing could take the guilt off of his shoulders and put it somewhere else. The burden was 100% his to carry, and no one could change his mind about that fact.

Plus, he still felt like acting stubborn and choosing to be upset after Vision and Wanda's little prank. He could've done better.

Peter forced himself to tune his mind into his surroundings and bury his thoughts. Someone had hooked up a Wii, (seriously, you've got a billion dollars and yet your video-game system is still a Wii?) And Clint, Vision, and Thor were sitting around the common room deep in a heated racing game. Peter wasn't sure what the game was called, but hearing Thor yelling cuss words at the various computer players and Steve shouting "language" from across the room was hilarious. Clint was trying to throw pillows at Vision's head in an attempt to make him lose his super-bot focus, but his efforts were futile. He ended up falling and hitting his head on the coffee table after trying to throw a couch cushion at Vision's face while still driving his electronic car. The man merely bounced up from his crumpled position on the carpet and started cussing at Vision, scrambling to get his car back into the race. Peter expected Steve to yell "language" again from across the room, but he was to busy laughing at Clint to care.

The rest of the Avenger's were gathered in groups around the room. Peter spotted Ned shoving a pencil and paper into Rocket's hands for an autograph. Rocket began scolding his friend for being such an a-hole. You can't show paper to a tree, you idiot! Ned was trying to escape Rocket's fury, but the crowd around him was thick and he was having difficulty finding a place to go. Peter thought he should help Ned, but the situation was really funny. Plus, Peter didn't want to be yelled at by a raccoon.

Nearby, Annabeth and Natasha seemed to be having a debate about the best fighting techniques. Annabeth had made up some kind of lie about being a part of a karate or jiu-jitzu group or something. Peter knew how important it felt to keep your super-identity secret, and he didn't blame the girl for lying. Morgan was trying to get involved in the conversation, saying something about how she wanted pepper spray for Christmas. Neither of the older girls seemed surprised that the 5 year old knew what pepper spray was.

Peter's spider-sense processed all of this in a matter of a few minutes. He didn't understand how everyone had gotten into the groove so quickly. The last guest couldn't have gotten to the tower more than 20 minutes ago. Peter had been standing still in a corner of the room since the number of super-heroes had gone over 6, and he was yet to talk to anyone, or to be approached, surprisingly. He knew this party was for him. The star-wars theme-music booming from an unknown speaker was enough to tell him that. He was still stuck in his little shadow, though, torn between joining the fun and laughter emitting from the common room or retreating to a quiet place and pouring over his lack of a will to live.

The latter didn't sound very fun when he spelled it out.

"Did you know about this?"

Peter jumped at the voice. He was so jumpy lately. Standing next to him in the shadows was Michelle, looking concerned and suspicious and just a little bit scared.

He hadn't felt her when she approached him.

Maybe she had been there the whole time.

"Does it look like I knew about this?" Peter replied, overcoming his surprise and turning towards her.

MJ stared at him for a minute, perhaps to see if he was telling the truth. Her eyes bored into his soul. It wasn't at all surprising that she had figured out his second identity so quickly. Finally, MJ relinquished her mistrust and slumped into the wall.

"Stark doesn't really have much experience in helping a mentally unstable 16 year old teenager, does he?" MJ's eyes searched for the man. He was stuffing his face with pizza near the serve-yourself counter Steve was still laughing against, whispering something to Pepper that Peter didn't quite catch.

"Mentally unstable?" Peter wasn't hurt by this, but his voice pretended to be. Michelle knew him too well.

"You and I both know it, loser." MJ teased, acting as if the whole thing was a joke. Maybe she thought part of it was.

Peter did know it, though.

"Ned and Annabeth seem to be having fun. She's never even met these people before." MJ looked at Peter, smiling slightly.

"You've never met these people, either," Peter pointed out, a question in his eyes.

"You think I have something to prove?"

"I most certainly do."

Michelle laughed at this, and Peter smiled. He loved it when MJ laughed.

"Well then," she started, her voice heavy with snark, "I suppose we better go join the party." Michelle grasped Peter's hand firmly, support and encouragement in the movement. Peter tried his best to give it back to her. To tell himself it was just a party. His guilty, anxious feelings weren't necessary.

He clung to the thought.

Michelle led him out of the shadows, and he forced a grin onto his face. He could be happy. He could enjoy this. Even if he didn't deserve it, everyone else in the room did.

Tony's words echoed in his mind: Its not your fault.

If only he could believe it.

...

Annabeth was used to crazy parties. Being friends with Leo and Percy alone made this a usual for her. Greek demi-gods weren't the organized, solemn strict-curfew type. Not like the Romans.

And when the raccoon showed up, she knew this wasn't a formal get-together designed to make young people bored. Those didn't have video games, pizza, and star-wars music. Or raccoons.

She was in utter shock, at first. Surely Peter hadn't planned this. He didn't seem overly excited when Wanda and Vision showed up, after all.

She couldn't even find Peter, now. He had disappeared. So had Michelle. Annabeth wondered if she was intimidated by the large crowd of super-heroes in the room.

Annabeth couldn't really be intimidated, though. She had had prodigy abilities her entire life. She fought many battles. Had many near-death experiences. Camp Half-Blood was basically a summer camp full of teenager avengers.

She had always known about the clan of super-heroes. Never met them in person, no, but plenty of times on her dad's TV and on the news in a coffee shop or pizza parlor with Percy. She had always acknowledged the superheroes presence, but never did she look to them for hope or depend on them to help her in times of trouble. Mortals couldn't see the monsters she had to fight to the death with. It was best if you just kept them out of the equation.

She fought for the well-being of demi-gods. The Avenger's fought for everyone else.

Natasha Romanov was a spy; a very strong woman who was probably in her late 30's. She was alert of everything, always scanning her surroundings like Michelle. Unlike her seemingly always-calculating eyes, though, her posture suggested she was easy-going. Flirtatious, even. She masked her knowledge behind a pretty face.

She reminded Annabeth of Piper. Maybe even herself.

And then Annabeth figured out she was Black Widow. She didn't rely on powers or weapons or metal suits to protect herself. She didn't have to own up to any men, because she was better than all of them.

It didn't take very long for the two girls to become friends.

During the time it took for Peter to make an appearance at his own surprise party, Annabeth had had a strong debate with Natasha over the best fighting techniques for self-protection. Turns out, they agreed on a lot of things. Natasha obviously didn't believe Annabeth's karate shin-dig, but she didn't press on the matter, and the daughter of Athena wasn't about to give her big secret to someone she'd just met.

And then she had been challenged to a wrestling match against Black Widow.

Annabeth didn't even know how it had happened. They had been saying something about the chances of survival after a bullet to the stomach in contrast to a knife, and Natasha had said it.

Hey, we've got an awesome training room...

Annabeth was stunned. This woman wanted to wrestle with her? The spy was onto something Annabeth didn't understand. She wasn't about to back down from a challenge, though.

And she wanted to see if the Avenger's training room was as hard-core as the Half-blood camp grounds.

She was still clinging to the idea that demi-gods were just teenage avengers, but better. She wanted to prove it.

"You haven't touched the pizza."

Annabeth jolted and glanced up. Peter sat down beside her on the couch, his eyes directed towards the to-the-death pillow fight that was now happening on the living room carpet. Clint, Vision and Thor were sprawled on the floor, and pillows were strewn everywhere. More than had been in the place when she had first arrived. The men had probably gathered some from nearby guest-rooms.

The only couch cushions that still remained on the couch was the one Annabeth and Peter were sitting on.

"Are you vegan?"

Annabeth smirked at the boy next to her. "We ate Starbucks, like, 9 days ago. I had a muffin and it was way too good to be vegan."

Peter went silent at her answer, and Annabeth instantly felt guilty. She tried to keep that day from reaching her lips for Peter's sake. He had lost so much.

"I'm sorry-"

"No. No, it's okay." Peter looked up at her, determination on his face. He sounded like he was convincing himself rather than Annabeth. "It's okay."

Annabeth looked back over at the raging pillow fight happening mere feet away from the couch. Clint had a red mark around his left eye where he had been hit with a wii remote. Despite the injury, he was laughing.

Tony Stark was an idiot. This was too much too soon. Peter was in pain, overwhelmed by irreplaceable loss. All these people he looked up to were here, and Peter was going to try and bury his feelings for them. It wasn't going to fix things. They had to offer him support, and let him mourn on his own. Get better on his own. If you hide your feelings for the comfort of others, it'll pile up and come back later.

Annabeth knew.

"You don't have to do that." Annabeth looked over at the prodigy next to her, searching in his eyes for his true emotions.

"Do what?" Peter avoided her gaze, focusing on the men rolling around on the floor.

"Pretend."

Peter remained silent. Peter was never silent.

Annabeth let her gaze remain on him. He didn't look up.

"Peter."

It was a dream. Music blasted from an unknown place, but it was dulled to her ears. Time slowed. The room blurred around her, and all that was left in the world were the two of them. Finally the boy next to her looked up, and his chocolate eyes bored into her grey ones.

There was familiarity there, like what he was about to say he had said before. Like the loss he was feeling now he had felt before.

"Then what should I do?" His words challenged, but his tone was dead. Annabeth blinked, thinking.

What did you do? What had she used as a coping mechanism? What had Peter done, before?

"You embrace it, and accept the fact that you'll never forget." She turned away, considering how to form the words to say next.

"And?" Peter's nails dug into the couch, and he didn't even try to hide the sadness from him voice. The guilt.

Annabeth took a breath and turned back to Spider-man. He'd lost someone before, she was sure. Something was different this time.

Guilt.

"You let it fuel you." She finished. The air between them was thickening with emotion. After an eternity, he nodded, but didn't let his gaze fall from her's.

Something had passed between them. Not just friendship. They had connected somehow.

Somewhere deep inside her, Annabeth felt that they had already connected before.

"Are you ready?"

Annabeth jumped off the couch and turned around. Natasha was standing there, excitement and challenge on her face. Had she noticed Peter and Annabeth's conversation? Or had she, like the rest of the world, gone untouched by the two teenagers moment of connection?

"I've got the training room set up."

Annabeth looked over at Peter, who eyed her quizzically. Her lips quirked up.

"I'm having a wrestling match with Black Widow, apparently." Peter's eyebrows shot upward, and he looked over at the spy behind him.

"What makes you think she can wrestle?" Peter questioned Natasha, skeptical. Annabeth shot back, offended.

"She's strong. She claims she knows at least 100 ways to kill a guy." Natasha looked between the two teens, her eyes gleaming. "I don't know where or how she learned what she supposedly knows," Peter glanced over Annabeth, concern hidden behind a smirk, "And I do intend to find out." Romanov added. We'll see. "But if she can fight, I need to be sure she can't beat me."

"Who's fighting who? I need to place bets!" Clint had walked into the conversation, followed closely by Thor. Vision had gone to talk to a nearby Wanda and Sam Wilson.

The archer had a small swelling bump under his eye, but either he didn't notice it or he completely ignored it. He was sporting a victorious smile, although the mere mortal-man hadn't beat the super-bot or the god of lightning. The Wii-race-pillow-fight had gotten way out of hand.

While Natasha explained the situation to her co-worker, Annabeth once again directed her attention to Peter Parker. He was smiling awkwardly, looking somewhere between confused and excited. Annabeth thought about their earlier confiding. Peter was affected deeply by his loss. But more than that, he thought it was his fault.

He would heal. Just as he had picked himself up after whatever had happened to him before.

None of this gave doubt to Annabeth. None of it confused her. What confused her was their relationship.

She had never met Peter Parker before a couple of weeks ago, and yet she had the strangest feeling she'd known him before.

...

Peter was scared.

He hadn't been paying attention. How on earth had Natasha decided she wanted to wrestle with a random girl she'd only heard 2 or 3 sentences about and had only known for about an hour?

Better yet, how did the spy know Annabeth could fight?

How long would it take her to figure out Annabeth wasn't normal?

Why would Annabeth even accept the challenge?

That's a stupid question.

Peter was surrounded by super-heroes, some shaking their heads in confusion, others placing bets between the spy they'd worked with for years and the girl they'd only just met.

Clint had bet on the latter.

Through all the emotion, Peter couldn't help but feel confused. Rushed, kind of. One minute he'd been talking to MJ and the next sitting on a sofa with Annabeth- something weird had happened then- and now he was outside of the training room, waiting for Black Widow's say to enter and watch what was about to be either really interesting or horrifying.

Nothing about this day made any sense.

...

The air was silent around her. Avengers were seated on benches around the training room. The floor was cleared of all weapons, weights, anything either of the girls could trip over or kill each other with. Ned, MJ, and Peter sat together, the first two looking slightly confused, the third wearing a knowing grim expression.

Annabeth breathed deeply and turned to her opponent. This was a friendly fight. She wasn't in danger. She had agreed to this. She wanted this. For fun.

Among other things.

Natasha had a look of determination on her face, though she was smiling. She would be tough to beat.

Annabeth hadn't been to Camp Half-Blood for almost 6 months. She'd been focused on college, and dragging Percy through the first semester.

She needed this.

"Are you two ready?"

Clint Barton had a small American flag in his hand that he had taken from Steve's room. He held it high above his head, prepared to wave it frantically at the start of the competition like it was a race or something. This wasn't professional, instead it was merely for fun and spontaneous.

Annabeth had to remind herself a she nodded to the man that she couldn't do anything that might make her look suspicious and lead to her identity. Even though she'd already basically done exactly that by talking to the Black Widow about fighting techniques and accepting the battle request.

"No biting, decapitation, material weapons of any kind, hair-pulling, display of any hidden super-powers we didn't previously know about-" He paused and looked to each girl as if they would suddenly burst into flames. "And no killing. Have I missed anything?" The archer glanced around the room at his co-workers.

"No cussing." Steve stated with an air of finality. Tony snickered beside him.

"Ok, that'll be encouraged." Clint smirked, and shook his finger at Tony. "Say one naughty word and I'll wash your mouth out with soap." Tony laughed harder, and Steve glared.

"Shake hands." Hawkeye ordered. Annabeth crossed the few feet separating her from Natasha and grasped her hand firmly. "Now, resume your beginning positions-" Clint waited as they walked back to where they had previously been. "Ready- begin!"

Barton swiped his flag downward and moved out of the way as Natasha advanced towards Annabeth. The daughter of Athena didn't even have time to process what was happening before she was knocked unceremoniously onto the ground.

Natasha had her pinned down. The seconds were ticking by. Soon the game would already be lost.

Annabeth breathed deeply and tightened the muscles in her legs. She jerked her knees up into Romanov's stomach with as much force as she could muster. The spy flew backwards, surprised, and Annabeth took no time getting onto her feet and out of her vulnerable position.

She ran at Natasha in an attempt to knock her over. But the professional side-stepped. Annabeth had expected it, and swerved on the spot. She threw her leg to the side, into Natasha's knees. The woman fell onto the ground, barely catching herself with her elbows and springing back up. She wasn't going to go down easy, that was for sure. This woman fought for a living.

That was kind of what Annabeth had done for over 10 years of her life, though.

The opponents stood for a moment, catching their breath. The crowd was engaged now, silent.

Black Widow ran at Annabeth again, but she was ready this time. She threw herself onto the ground just as her challenger reached her and wrapped her arms around Natasha's legs. The women's earlier momentum was her downfall, quite literally. She crashed into the ground once again.

Annabeth scrambled to get on top of the spy, but her attempt was futile. The woman was already on her feet again. She wrapped her arms around the daughter of Athena's stomach and slammed her into the ground. Annabeth rolled on the floor, gasping for breath.

This wasn't wrestling. But whatever it was, Annabeth wanted to win.

Annabeth bounced off the concrete floor, only to be knocked down again by Natasha. Instead of trying to get her off this time, Annabeth tried a different tactic. As she once again felt the cold floor on her back, she yanked her arms free from her sides and grasped her opponents shoulders firmly. She used the women's weight and pushed sideways with all her might. The two rolled, and soon Annabeth was on top of her competitor. She pressed all of her weight and muscle onto the spy, and jammed her elbows into Natasha's sides. It was a difficult maneuver, one she had learned from Luke a long time ago.

And suddenly she was flying across the room. Annabeth had gotten distracted. She had been 7 again, running through the streets with Thalia and Luke with a blade in hand, and Natasha had taken advantage of it.

Her head hit the hard ground, and it sent shock down her body. Someone gasped.

Annabeth ignored the pain and once again jumped to her feet. She couldn't let her head wonder.

Natasha was standing and hadn't moved towards her victim. She was probably worried she had hurt Annabeth severely. After all, this wasn't supposed to be to-the-death.

Annabeth took advantage of Black Widow's hesitation and prepared to perform one of her favorite techniques. She ran at her opponent as fast as she could, full of momentum. She grabbed the women's wrist, and put all of her force and adrenaline into the grasp. Within tenths of a second, Natasha had been thrown over the daughter of Athena's shoulder and was slammed into the hard floor under her.

Annabeth could swear Scott had screamed. She would've laughed if she wasn't so out of breath.

Annabeth threw herself down onto Natasha's body, pinning her arms to the ground. The woman stared up at her in awe.

"Surrender?" Annabeth breathed, already anticipating the answer. Natasha laughed, though it sounded more like a cough. "As if."

The spy yanked her left leg free of the trap, and swung her foot into Annabeth's knee. The move looked wimpy, a frail attempt; however, it was anything but. Annabeth cried out in pain as Black Widow's foot connected with her leg. It was a deceitful move, but it was a powerful one.

She hoped the professional would teach it to her later. She took a tenth of a second to assess her surroundings as she scrambled away from her challenger. Most of the occupants of the room were standing now, watching every move. Some looked concerned, others surprised. Rocket looked delighted.

Annabeth redirected her attention to Natasha, who was preparing her next move for when her victim got on her feet again. Annabeth sprang up quickly, and jumped onto the spy, wrapping her legs around the woman's waist. The momentum caused them both to fall onto the ground. Natasha groaned and pushed her opponent off her.

Soon they were both rolling on the floor, trying to stay atop of one another. The fight had been going on for several minutes, and both of the girls were beginning to show fatigue. The watchers were shouting now- some of encouragement, others of anger towards one another over money and predictions. Annabeth tuned it all out as she rolled over the cold floor, focusing on her competitor.

As Annabeth once again rolled on top of Natasha, she pulled her knees upward and into the woman's ribs with as much force as she could attain. It backfired; Black Widow used Annabeth's loss of footing to her advantage and flipped on top of the daughter of Athena, putting her hands around her neck and pulling her into a choke-hold.

Annabeth hadn't anticipated the counter-move. She was stuck now; Natasha was on top of her with her victim's head in her elbow, and Annabeth was hopelessly pressed to the ground. She heard Clint begin counting the seconds on the ground a ways from her.

She tightened her muscles and pushed up onto her knees with all of the strength she could muster. The spy's grip on her neck held firm, but now Annabeth had gained some control. Clint's counting ceased as Natasha tried to push Annabeth's body back onto the floor. Annabeth jabbed her elbow into the woman's stomach as she held her, 3 times before Natasha loosened her grip slightly on her opponent's neck. She grabbed Annabeth's jerking elbow with her free hand and wrenched it behind her victims back, still holding her in a choke-hold.

The situation had become hopeless. With one of Annabeth's arms in captivity and her way of oxygen slowly diminishing, there wasn't much left she could do in this situation.

She couldn't let Black Widow win, though. She could get out of this, just as she had gotten out of everything before.

She breathed as deeply as possible, and felt around her for signs of weakness. She could use anything to her advantage.

Then Annabeth looked around at all the people watching her in the room. Super-heroes. The majority were awe-stricken with the teenager's performance. She had out-lasted her opponent's wrath for a surprising amount of time.

This woman was a professional. If Annabeth beat her, things would look suspicious. Natasha definitely didn't believe the whole karate-story. If a supposedly normal teenage girl beat the Black Widow, she'd be questioned and her background would be looked into a lot more than what she was comfortable with.

Annabeth continued to struggle against her captor, but this time she wasn't planning on fighting with purpose. Natasha's choke-hold grew tighter, her grasp relentless. She still hadn't gotten Annabeth all the way to the floor for Clint to begin counting again.

Annabeth fought against her human restraint, and the choke-hold got even tighter. She gasped for breath, and slapped the woman's arm with her free hand. Surrender.

Natasha relinquished her hold on Annabeth and stood from the ground, wearing a victorious smile. Annabeth climbed to her feet as well. She felt as if she'd betrayed herself by giving up, but it was a wise choice. Even after their co-worker's win, various avengers were still eyeing the teenager with awe and suspicion.

"You sure you are not also a superhero?" Annabeth turned. Tony Stark had approached her, looking confused and suspicious, yet smiling, like most of the crowd. "Did you get bit by the same spider Peter did, and develop super-strength?"

Annabeth shook her head and shuddered. She hated spiders.

Its kind of ironic that you became friends with the human equivalent of a spider, then.

"We've all got somewhat-secret identities here, you know- If you hang out with these people, your's won't stay secret for long." Stark made it sound like a joke, but to Annabeth, it sounded more like a warning. She didn't know how fast news would spread if one of the avengers found out she was a demi-god (other than Peter) or what would happen to camp Half-Blood, but she didn't want to take the chance.

Even if Thor was technically a Norse demi-god. Or something.

"Do you fight a lot?"

"Um. Well, I'm a counselor at a summer camp and we sometimes do self-protection-" Tony wasn't buying it, but she didn't give him any more information.

"You probably want to know where the showers are." Annabeth turned around. Natasha was standing there, smiling brightly. "Its not healthy to let this sweat sit on your body for too long." The spy gestured down her training outfit, and then towards the one Annabeth had borrowed.

"You'll probably want to wait until all these people leave, though." Annabeth looked around. The room was crowded and noisy. Tony Stark had wondered off to join Pepper.

Annabeth nodded her consent, and the woman ran toward the crowd.

"Ok people, get out! There's a whole billion dollar tower here- find somewhere else to take up space!" A few of the occupants of the room grumbled, but slowly the crowd of super-heroes were making there way out of the double doors and into the hallway elevator.

Annabeth hoped they weren't all stupid enough to all get in the small space at once.

...

Peter stood near the back of the elevator accompanied by Clint Barton, MJ, Sam Wilson, Scott and Hope. They were the second group to board the elevator back down to the 23rd floor.

"That friend you have, Peter- she sure can fight."

Scott had the same awe in his voice most of the other avengers had- no one expected a seemingly-normal (other than being a 17 year old who already graduated college) teenage girl to with-stand and nearly beat the Black Widow for 20 straight minutes.

And she would've won. But she'd given up.

For a minute, he thought she'd keep fighting. She wasn't one to back down from a challenge. It was a smart decision, though- just fighting the way that she had looked suspicious. And Annabeth had certainly to proved to every one that she wasn't someone to mess with.

"Yeah."

"Did you know she could fight like that?"

"No."

It wasn't a lie. He hadn't known she was anything other than a really smart aspiring-architect, until she'd laid out her entire life for him.

Annabeth trusted him. She didn't have to give Peter the entire background. But she wanted him to know.

He smiled up at Scott Lang, who just raised his eyebrows in return. He didn't understand.

But Peter knew more about Annabeth than he did of any of the people in the elevator with him. And she knew his deepest secret.

"What's up, Parker? Had a fun afternoon?" Scott still had his eyebrows raised. Peter bit his lip, but continued to grin. This realization had erased his mind of every horrible thing from the past week.

The connection they had. He still didn't understand it, but it was strong, whatever it was.

He felt relieved to have it.

...

The hot water hit Annabeth's shoulders in hard drops. The pressure felt good on her tired body, waking her up and making her feel clean and alert.

The fight had brought her back to life, after the months of focusing on school work alone. Her heart beat quickly in her chest, but she was smiling. She hadn't realized she needed that.

And it had taken everyone's minds off of the traumatic week- even Peter's she was sure. She tilted her head up towards the shower head and closed her eyes as the heated water rained down of her face. She couldn't understand how content she felt.

She barely knew these people. This went against everything she stood for- she was in a shower, vulnerable, with a dozen basically strangers just a mere few floors down.

She'd been in the small space of relaxation long enough- it was time to put some clothes on.

Annabeth quickly dried off with a provided towel, and slipped her jeans and t-shirt she had had on before she had wrestled with Natasha.

She grabbed her phone from a nearby bench and checked her notifications.

3 new messages from Percy

Annabeth had completely, utterly forgotten about Percy and the cross-country trip. How long had it been now? Rolla to San Francisco was around 29 hours. A long drive without stopping, but Percy had insisted on not wasting any time to rest.

Annabeth clicked into her messages, sighing.

I made it to your dad's. Going to bed now.

Hey, did you know you still have a VHS in your house? Wow.

Sup, are you alive? You said you'd answer unless you were dead.

That was what happened when you were a demi-god. You didn't check your phone for an hour, and everyone thought you were dead.

Annabeth felt like she was being redundant as she typed out her belated reply.

I'm not dead. You?

The text came back almost instantly, as if Percy had been staring at his screen awaiting her answer.

This was just yesterday morning on repeat.

I will be, if you keep ignoring me. Why did u not answer?

Annabeth thought about telling Percy about the party and the fight, but then she'd have to tell him about Peter and the Avengers, and then she'd have to tell him about how Peter knew about her being a demi-god, and than she'd have to deal with stuff she didn't want to deal with momentarily.

She would give him the news later, when Percy wasn't already on edge and had only had 6 hours of sleep in the last 59 hours. Nope, she'd tell him later.

I was reading. I had the phone on silent.

Of course you were reading, wise girl.

Annabeth smirked. It was, in fact, a believable story.

Go to sleep.

Will do.

"Boyfriend?" Annabeth glanced up to see Natasha staring at her, the door to the showers swinging closed behind her.

"How did you know?"

Natasha smirked, and made her way to the teenager. She was wearing a fresh set of clothes; she had freshened up in her guest room in the compound.

"A spy never reveals her secrets. Anyway, Peter is asking for you downstairs. He wants to know if you're hungry."

Annabeth glanced down at her phone. It was 3:27.

"Kind of early for dinner."

Natasha nodded. "That kid is hungry all of the time, though. And despite the 83 boxes of pizza that were here at noon, all that's left are crumbs now. So Tony wants to know if we want cheeseburgers or tacos, and its tied, and you're the tie-breaker."

The whole sentence sounded like the woman had rehearsed it all the way up the elevator. She now stared at Annabeth quizzically, awaiting her answer. Annabeth couldn't believe that the hardest problem she'd have to solve for the day would be whether she wanted burgers or tacos.

"What did you pick?" Annabeth met Natasha's gaze.

"Cheeseburgers. Duh." Annabeth smiled at the snarky response. Despite just meeting these people for the first time today, she was beginning to understand why Peter liked them. Even if he pretended to be annoyed by their presence.

"Yeah. Me too."

Natasha threw her hands up in victory. She smiled back at Annabeth, and started walking back towards the hallway and the elevator. Back down to the party.

"Lets go tell everyone the big news."

...

Peter couldn't believe what fun he'd had. He felt like his life was just the same as before the bombing. He was surrounded by crazy, starving super-heroes (not including MJ, Ned, and Annabeth) and he loved it. He had played games, and watched Clint Barton die internally as he was beat at Jenga by a 5 year old. He watched another Star Wars movie, Rogue One, and ate at least 6 cheeseburgers. They'd danced a bit, too: not that he needed to reflect on any of that. (It was pretty bad.)

After 9:00, they'd ended up ordering 10 gallons of ice cream and getting drunk on kool-aid. It was 10:30 before Ned and MJ left, and 11 before Peter Quill had to come in and escort his 2 fellow guardians back onto their ship.

Slowly, the crowd dispersed. Annabeth had tried to return to her hotel room after Ned and Michelle had left, but Peter had insisted she'd stay. There were 20 guest rooms on that floor alone; every single one much more comfortable than any crappy hotel room could give her. Ned and Michelle had families and curfews to reach, she did not.

After pleading and very hard convincing, she had finally agreed. Only she, Pepper, Tony, Morgan, Steve and Natasha remained at the Avenger's compound. Peter, Morgan and Annabeth were immersed in a deep conversation about the biggest lego towers they had ever made.

So far, Annabeth had been the winner, with a foot to mile replica of Manhattan.

I'd been really bored that week, she had stated, shrugging.

"Alright, Morgandu, it is time for bed!" Tony walked over to the couch where the three minors were sitting, clapping his hands. "Parker, Chase, you both go put your nerdy heads on a pillow." Peter glared at Stark, and Annabeth laughed.

As Peter made his way down the hallway, he couldn't help but feel content. Something had changed, just a little. He found that even if he'd lost all of his blood relatives, and his home, he still had a great family.

He was still overwhelmed by guilt, yes, but he could deal with that later. For now, he would sleep without weight on his chest. He had had an overall great day, and it overclouded his sorrow.

...

The world was blurry around her. Annabeth blinked rapidly, dispersing the sleep from her eyes, and sat up in the overly comfy and large bed. Her phone sat beside her on the nightstand, the one Leo had made for most of Camp Half-blood so that they could communicate normally without the threat of attracting monsters. It was off it's hinges, ringing relentlessly and shaking the surface it was on.

Annabeth blinked a few more times and picked up the phone, reading the name on the screen.

Percy

By the time Annabeth had processed the fact that Percy Jackson was calling her at 2:00 am (though it wasn't that time in San Francisco), the ringing had already ended. Annabeth went to call Percy back, but she hadn't even typed in the first 3 digits of his number when her phone started ringing again. She answered the frantic call and put the phone to her ear, more alert.

"Percy? Why are you calling me so ea-" Annabeth stopped abruptly as Percy's hurried voice came over her's. "No time, Annabeth. Something terrible happened!"

Annabeth was wide awake now. Percy was scared. He never sounded scared.

"What happened?"

Percy paused for a few seconds, as if wondering how to word what he was about to say.

"I- I heard something. In the house." Percy paused again. The world was so quiet she could here his breathing over the device.

"What did you hear?" Annabeth tried to keep her voice steady. For the sake of both of them.

"A bang... Gunshots." Percy quieted once again. He had more to say, but relented. Annabeth leaned against a pillow, swallowing.

"How many gunshots?"

"Four."

Annabeth sighed. Percy wouldn't have called if this wasn't important. Something was really wrong.

"Percy, what happened?"

It was eternity before he answered, and still it was vague, but somehow she knew her life had changed.

"Annabeth-" Percy breathed shakily on the other side. "They're dead. They're all dead."

...

Chapter Text

"Who's dead?" Annabeth's voice was barely audible. She was already sure she knew the answer to her question, but she asked anyway. She licked her dry lips, and leaned into the phone.

"Your dad. Your Stepmom. Bobby and Matthew." Percy's voice was weak, and apologetic.

Annabeth gasped softly, and slumped further into the bed. "What happened?" She repeated.

"What happened?" Percy drew in a sharp breath, and she could hear his footsteps on the hard wood floor. "I don't know, Annabeth. There were four gunshots, and now there are four bullets in 4 people's heads. What do you think happened?"

Percy's voice was frantic. Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek, and thought through what was happening.

Apparently her family was dead, all shot.

But Percy was alive. Why?

"Percy, where's the person who shot the gun?"

There was no answer for several moments. Annabeth looked down at her phone to make sure Percy hadn't hung up.

"I didn't think of that." Annabeth would've facepalmed if she situation wasn't so dire. She heard the sound of Riptide being uncapped and her heartbeat sped up even more than it already had. "I'm going to find them, Annabeth. I'll call you back."

A protest had barely escaped her lips when the small device in her hand beeped. Percy had ended the call.

Annabeth dropped the phone onto the bedsheets and wiped her clammy hands on the soft fabric. She thrived under horrific circumstances. She would figure out what to do.

She slid out of the bed and paced the rooms for a few moments, wondering what she could do. She made a list of the things she knew about the situation at hand.

My family was killed by an unknown person.

Percy is still alive.

The murderer may or may not still be at my house.

Everything is happening in San Francisco, and I'm in New York.

Annabeth couldn't do anything here. She needed to get to San Francisco.

"Annabeth?" Annabeth jumped and turned toward the sound of the voice. Peter was standing at the doorway of her guest room, looking concerned. "Is everything ok?"

"How did I wake you up? You're all the way down the hall!" Annabeth continued pacing, but her thoughts were becoming jumbled.

"I knew something was wrong. Spider-sense, remember? And the last time I ignored it-" Peter stopped mid-sentence, and fixed his eyes on Annabeth's face. Something must've given away what she was feeling, because he stepped into the room without invitation and stopped elbow's length away from the daughter-of-Athena. "What's wrong?"

Annabeth tried to keep her voice calm. Panicking never solved anything. "Percy called. Someone shot my parents and brothers in San Francisco. Now Percy is looking for them."

Peter didn't ask for more details, simply taking a deep breath and asking the million-dollar question. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Her voice sounded small and weak, despite her efforts. She breathed deeply, and looked up at her friend. "The only thing I can think of is to go to him. I'm no help here."

"San Francisco?"

"But by the time I even leave the city, someone else could already be dead."

Peter looked up at the ceiling and thought for a minute, and started backing out of the room, his face hardening in confidence. "It just so happens that Mr. Stark has about 50 super-fast billion-dollar jets. It'll be faster than driving a car, anyway."

Peter turned to Annabeth. "Get changed. I'll go wake everyone up." Spider-Man was running down the hallway before Annabeth snapped out of her surprise and hurried to the closet. She slipped the clothes on she'd worn the previous day, grabbed her phone, and typed a quick message to Percy.

Don't worry, Percy. We are coming for you.

She didn't wait for a response as she sprinted down the hallway after Peter.

...

It was only 11 pm. Normally, Percy wouldn't be asleep for at least another 2 hours.

The fact of the matter was, though, that he had basically been driving for 50 straight hours. He could barely keep his eyes open.

But who could stay asleep with gunshots going off four times consecutively? Not him.

San Francisco wasn't a safe place. Maybe that was why the first two shots didn't bother him into climbing out of bed. Even though they sounded close- really close, he was half asleep and might not have even thought it anything more than a figment of his sleep-deprived mind.

The third shot, he was up.

The fourth shot, he was in the hallway and more alert than he had been in the past 3 days.

Everything was eerily silent. He'd made his way into the room opposite his guest room, sprinkled with legos and crayons on the floor. Bunk-beds took up a quarter of the room, two small sleeping forms laying on them.

Surely, if the shots were real, it would've woken them up? 

Percy whispered Annabeth's brother's names, cringing at the panic in his voice. He was overreacting.

He said the boy's names again, louder. They didn't even stir. Percy made his way across the room, trying his best to avoid the small trip-hazards strewn on the floor in the dark. Being with Annabeth, he'd gotten quite good at that specific task.

He had stifled a scream and backed up the way he had came. Even in the dark, the sight was horrific and unforgettable.

Percy had seen a lot of terrible things in his short life.

The bloody bullet holes in the head of Annabeth's sleeping little brothers was near the top of the list.

Percy had made his way to Mr. and Mrs's Chase's rooms, holding back a sob.

You couldn't even see their eyebrows. The blood coated the pillows their heads lay on.

He'd called Annabeth- he wasn't sure what else to do. He couldn't think straight.

And, being the idiot he was, she'd had to remind him that the perpetrator might've still been on the property.

And now he stood on the grass outside of the house, the sky dark and haunting above him. Riptide glinted, barely helping Percy to see 2 feet in front of him. He held his breath, listening for signs of anyone else's presence.

Nothing. Silence but for the sound of the wind.

Then the door creaked open behind him.

...

"This is the fastest jet we have. It halves the time of a normal flight." Tony attempted to sound reassuring, but even he knew that the odds of him getting Annabeth to San Francisco in time for her to do anything helpful were slim.

Still, when a frantic Peter had practically jumped onto him and Pepper, ranting about Annabeth and guns and California, Tony didn't hesitate to make amends.

He didn't like seeing Peter scared.

He didn't like seeing friends of Peter scared, either.

Annabeth wasn't the geek-friend like Ned, or the obsessive journalist girl-friend that was Michelle (and that was his opinion that couldn't be changed, no matter how Peter tried to convince him otherwise.) No, the girl was a mega-genius, not unlike Peter. She had graduated from college mere weeks before she even turned 18.

And she was fierce, like Natasha. She fought hard, with calculations and precision. She outlasted the best of the best (and Tony would never admit that to Nat) for a surprising amount of time. There was something she was hiding, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly that something was.

Now the person she loved was in danger, and someone else she loved was dead (he hadn't gotten all the important details yet). Tony had only spoken maybe 10 sentences to the girl, and now he was having Happy fly her, along with him, Peter and Pepper, all the way to San Francisco.

"So how long will it take?" Annabeth's voice jolted Tony from his thoughts. She sounded surprisingly calm.

"About 3 and a half hours." Happy's voice sounded from the front of the plane. He was in the pilot's seat, the co-pilot seat empty beside him where Tony was supposed to be sitting. Peter was sitting a row behind him, closest to the window. Annabeth sat beside him. Pepper sat nearest the opposite window.

"I didn't know you could fly, Happy?" Peter looked stoic and uncomfortable, despite being in the comfiest seat a plane could get.

"I, spider-ling, am the ultimate chauffeur. You name it, I can drive it." Happy's voice was light in an obvious attempt to ease the tension in the small space. He turned to look at Peter, who offered him a small smile and whispered something to Annabeth Tony didn't catch. The girl smiled slightly back at him, and grabbed her phone from her pocket.

"OK, people. Everyone put on your seat belts for the take-off. Once we reach 30,000 feet, go ahead and go crazy. Reasonably." Happy looked pointedly at Tony, and the sounds of seat belt buckles clicking behind them resonated around the small, quiet space.

Tony buckled into the copilot seat, and slumped into it. He'd barely gotten any sleep, but there was no way anyone would be able to nap on the trip. The plane was eerily quiet other than the soft hum of machinery.

It was going to be a long 3 and a half hours.

The good thing was: Tony had an amazing talent: talking.

He wasn't just helping Annabeth because Peter had asked him to, even though he hadn't even done a research on this kid yet. He knew nothing about her, or why her boy-friend was in San Francisco. Heck, he didn't even know the specific address of where they were supposed to be going.

So Tony would do what he did best: started a conversation no one in the jet really wanted to be a part of.

"So, Annabeth. What type of phone do you have there?" Start simple.

Annabeth looked up at the co-pilot seat, confusion and surprise written all over her. Peter also looked confused.

"What?" Annabeth looked up at the man in front of her like she hadn't heard correctly.

"Your phone. What's the model?"

Peter looked at his mentor suspiciously. "Why?" Peter's eyes were saying Whyisthisimportantrightnow? 

"Well, at first I thought it was one of those sucky i-phones, you know, like one you had before I trashed it and got you a Stark one?" At this Peter rolled his eyes. "But its not. Look at it." Tony gestured towards the small device in Annabeth's hand. She held it up to her face and Peter's. Neither of the teenagers seemed to see anything abnormal about it.

"Here. Let me show you." Annabeth reluctantly put the phone in Tony's outstretched hand. he took off the case- a dull, light grey with an owl engraved on it- and pointed at the back of the phone. It had thin glossy over coat on the back of the phone that was probably meant as a protective precaution- inconspicuous to anyone not paying close attention. Still, it made the body of the device just slightly wider than an i-phone, and a little bit more advanced-looking.

Annabeth's eyes widened as she understood what he was pointing out. She glanced up at Tony in awe. "How did you even notice that?" Tony bit back a grin and handed the phone back to her.

"Technology speaks to me. So, what type of phone is it?" Annabeth hesitated, seeming to fight an inside battle. Finally, she looked up once again at Stark. "One of my friends- he created the prototype for me and a couple of other people. It's not connected to any shared net-work- and you can only get calls from other people who have that type of phone, or who's number is programmed into the phone."

Tony whistled slowly. "So is Peter's number programmed into your phone?"

"Yes. I put it in there when we started the engineering project a couple weeks ago."

"So I wouldn't be able to call you?"

"Nope." Annabeth had a look of pride in her eyes. "Here, you can try if you want to."

Annabeth typed her number into Tony's phone. His buzzed, waiting for the other end of the line to pick up. Annabeth's didn't ring at all.

"Your friend- how old is he?" Tony hung up his phone and looked once more to the teenager. She hesitated again- debating whether or not to tell him the truth. Peter looked at her knowingly.

How many secrets did this kid have?

How many did Peter know?

"His name is Leo- he's 16, almost 17." Tony jerked from his thoughts. It took him a few seconds to comprehend what Annabeth said, and when he did it didn't make sense. 16? He was the same age as Peter.

Tony hadn't even designed the Stark phone until he was in his late 20's... 30's? He couldn't remember. Either way, he was very impressed.

"Me and my... cousins did most of the programming. Leo did some of it, though, and he designed the prototype and duplicated it." Annabeth paused to glance over at Peter, who was holding her phone very close to his face, as if he would see something he hadn't noticed before.

Tony shook his head. Was this girl just a part of a team of genius prodigies?

And why did she hesitate to tell him simple things like having cousins?

The jet trip was going to be long. Tony would keep Annabeth's mind off of the problem at hand, for her sake. He would help her with whatever she needed help with when the time came.

And maybe, in the meantime, he would find a crack in her wall, and learn something new.

...

Percy didn't answer the phone. It worried Annabeth, but she tried not to think about it. She couldn't do anything on the jet.

Tony Stark was surprisingly helpful. Usually she wouldn't consider being bombarded with questions helpful, but the onslaught of endless conversation starters kept her from thinking about what might've been happening at her house. How life would change now.

It helped her brain to focus- what could she tell him? How could she twist the truth to keep the genius from figuring out her secrets?

When Peter had sworn not to share anything Annabeth had told him with anyone else, he had pointed out that she could trust any of the Avengers. They'd understand- and she wouldn't have to worry about them keeping her secret. They put a lot of work into ensuring Peter's secret identity wasn't revealed, and they'd been pretty successful.

Imagine how much more careful they'd be with a whole camp full of kids with secret identities.

Plenty of mortals knew about demi-gods, sure. But you always had to be cautious.

"So. Annabeth. What does your boy-friend study?" Tony once again pulled Annabeth from her thoughts.

"Well, he wanted to major in surfing, but I told him to find a more promising career."

That had been an interesting argument. Yes, Percy could be a pro surfer- but wouldn't it have been suspicious when Percy won every contest because he could bend the water to his will?

Percy had told her he could get wet if he wasn't trying not to, but Annabeth won every argument.

"Surfing? So not all of your friends are child engineers and architects?" Tony sounded kind of relieved. Annabeth laughed. She instantly felt guilty for doing such a thing when her parents and her step brothers were dead and Percy was in danger and-

"So what is he majoring in instead?" Peter spoke loudly, looking at her pointedly. She smiled at him gratefully.

"I think marine biology. He's still just in the beginning stages, learning basic stuff. He hasn't really decided yet." Percy never really talked about his future in career.

It was just crazy to think there was a possibility of ever having one.

"He also wanted to do deep-sea diving tours. Or sailing. He really can't make up his mind."

"Sounds like he likes the ocean." Stark's voice was of amusement. Peter gave Annabeth a knowing look.

She really wished he'd stop doing that. It was really obvious.

"By the way- what college lets teenagers start classes a year early? At first I thought it was just because you were really smart, but from the sounds of it- and don't mind me stereotyping- Percy doesn't sound like the guy who could skip a year of high-school and head to college."

Annabeth wondered how she could bend the truth for this scenario. She couldn't very well tell Tony that they started early because there was less a chance of them dying a horrible death before they graduated.

"We- we could do a certain number of online bonus courses during high-school to apply-" It was a really weak lie, but Annabeth couldn't think of anything better. "It is just a community college."

Tony looked at her quizzically, but didn't ask for explanation.

"So why did you go to a community college all the way in California and then decide to do your summer project here in New York?"

"Well, Percy lives in Manhattan, I didn't want to be-"

"But Percy is going to the same college as you, right?" Tony interrupted. Annabeth gulped. The man was spouting out questions quicker than she could find a believable lie for them.

Thankfully, Peter seemed to sense her stress and came to the rescue.

"Really, Mr. Stark, stop asking her so many questions! It's kind of annoying." Tony directed his attention to Peter, lifting his eyebrows mockingly. "I'm being annoying, am I?" Peter nodded vigorously.

"You really are." Annabeth jumped. She had forgotten Pepper Potts was even there. She did not even look up from her Stark pad as she said her words of confirmation.

Tony glanced back over at Annabeth, smirking. "You should've seen this guy on movie night last month." The man lifted an accusing finger at Peter, whose face burned read as he mumbled, "Oh come on, Mr. Stark."

Annabeth had a feeling an embarrassing story was coming.

"We were watching the Lion King. Great movie, you know." Tony gave a chef's kiss. "Great piece of film." Peter shook his head solemnly.

"Well," Tony continued, an evilish grin on his face at the sight of Peter's discomfort, "This kid knows all the songs by heart. It's how he spends his free time. I don't know if he was drunk on kool-aid or capri-sun or what, but he was singing like there wasn't a tomorrow."

"Mr. Stark, please sto-" Peter started, but Tony was in a rant again.

"I'm just gonna say one thing, you're friend there is not a singer, Annabeth." Tony was barely controlling his laughter, and even Pepper had a small smile on her face illuminated by the blue glow of her screen.

Peter was covering his face with his hands.

"No one tried to get him to stop, though, because it was hilarious." Tony's grin was malicious.

"Then Clint decided to join in. It was a duet!" Tony burst out laughing once again, and Peter muttered something that sounded like "I was drugged."

Tony shakily took his phone out of his pocket and fumbled with it for a moment. "Look, I have a video! Want to see?" At this Peter lunged for Tony, but forgot he still had his seat-belt on and was knocked back down.

"I said, reasonably!" Happy called from beside Tony, but even he was laughing.

The embarrassing video of Peter and Clint sent the entire party into a fit of laughter, even Peter. Annabeth's spirits felt at flight, which didn't seem right. She was reminded of the whole reason she was in the jet in the first place.

Her body was still heaving with laughter, but time slowed around her. Annabeth's gaze left the video and looked up at Mr. Stark.

He was laughing too, his eyes showing his humor.

Behind that were a thousand other things though, feelings you'd only see if you focused.

His fatherly affection for Peter. His traumatic past. All things that were obvious.

However, something else seemed to be brimming to the top.

Relief. Concern. Hope. Determination.

For her. Annabeth.

Tony had started a conversation, made everyone laugh. And he'd done it for Annabeth, to distract her. To help her get through the long, stressful 3 hours of flight.

Not to mention the fact that the man had rushed everyone to the fastest jet he owned at 2 am to get a girl he'd only just met all the way to San Francisco for a seemingly hopeless mission.

Peter had said Annabeth could trust Tony. And she was pretty sure she believed him.

Suddenly time unfroze, and Annabeth's emphatic abilities were gone. The laughter had died away, only chuckles and wide smiles remaining.

Tony looked slightly lightheaded, but he was grinning. He met Annabeth's eyes, and something passed between them.

Perhaps Tony had gained 2-second emphatic abilities and was using them on her.

Annabeth hoped he saw the gratitude she felt.

...

The jet set down gracefully in a field (Tony assured them he would contact the owner of the land later and give them plenty of money for their troubles) only a quarter-of-a-mile away from Annabeth's house. As soon as the door was open, Everyone was rushing down the steps and into the grass.

After a few minutes of running, Tony (in his Iron man suit), Peter (In his Spider-man suit), and Annabeth (with a suspicious looking dagger she had somehow had concealed in her hoodie pocket) were standing mere feet away from their destination. Pepper and Happy had stayed on the jet to keep watch.

The house looked completely normal from the outside, except for the front door being left ajar.

Everyone just stood in silence for a moment, as if forgetting where they were, before Tony broke the silence.

"I'm scanning the house for any heat signatures." The man paused for a few moments before once again lifting his voice. "No- no ones here."

Annabeth looked up at Iron-man, horrified. "The scan doesn't pick up dead people, does it?" Tony shook his head solemnly.

Annabeth placed a look of resolve on her face, but when she spoke, it sounded defeated and almost empty of hope. "Well, we'll either find a dead Percy or we won't find a Percy at all."

Annabeth walked slowly into the house, holding her weapon out in front of her in case of danger, even though Tony had already assured her there was nothing alive in the house.

"Hello?" Peter didn't sense anyone inside. The pricking feeling at the base of his spine was barely there. The danger had already passed awhile ago.

Annabeth ran up the stairs, Peter struggling to keep up with her. She rushed into an open door and stopped by a large bed.

Peter finally caught up with his friend and gasped. The sight below him brought on too many nightmares of his past.

A man and a women lay together in a bed- the covers that would have been a sweet baby-blue now coated with dried rust-colored blood. The couple's ages couldn't have been older than the late 40's.

The woman would've been quite attractive, like Peter's aunt. Through the thick blood, her lips quirked up just ever so slightly, as if she was having a nice dream. Her skin looked like it used to be a nice tan, only now it was so pale it was almost translucent.

As for her face... A hole the size of a dime stood dark and center in the middle of her fore-head, coating her hair and eyelids and the pillow she rested on. The small little hole still seeped a small amount of blood, coating the old crusty stuff with dark, glistening new liquid.

The man was in the same situation. His blood mixed with hers.

They died in their sleep. They felt no pain.

Peter hardly felt reassured.

Annabeth choked back a sob. Peter turned to the girl beside him. Her hands were covering her face, but her grey eyes peeked between her fingers.

She didn't want to look, but she couldn't stop looking.

Peter took all the courage he could muster and wrapped his arms around his friend. He was only slightly taller than her- he hardly felt brave or strong or someone somebody could lay their burdens on.

Still, he put all he had into the embrace, and tilted her head towards him and away from the horror scene mere feet away from them. Annabeth leaned into Peter, putting her face into his shoulder and showing more weakness than she had ever shown to him before.

She didn't cry, just merely breathed in and out, shakily, her eyes closed. Peter closed his eyes too. He didn't want to be a part of what was beside him. Still, the scent of the blood lingered. For once he wished he could turn off his spider-sense. The smell was choking him.

Quiet footsteps emanated from the staircase. Soon Tony was leaning against the doorway, watching the sorry scene before him. Annabeth didn't seem to notice his presence.

The two super-heroes locked eyes. They weren't a part of this. They had never even met these people.

And it always felt horrible to be powerless.

...

Peter and Annabeth searched the rest of the house and the area around it, while Tony contacted the police to come collect the bodies and examine the crime scene.

Annabeth hadn't found anything but what Percy had told her of- 4 bodies with 4 bloody bullet holes. Percy was nowhere to be found.

The only room she hadn't checked was the guest-room, where Percy would've been staying. She was dreading going in there more than she had dreaded walking in on the dead bodies of her little step-brothers.

Now she had no choice- Tony wanted the crew gone before the police came, so as not to raise any further suspicion.

"Peter- could you wait out here, please?" Peter had been leaning against the wall, watching her walk in aimless circles for the past 5 minutes. He seemed surprised by the request, but nodded. Annabeth slipped into the guest room and closed the door softly behind her.

There was no smell of blood, no dead bodies. A bed with ruffled sheets on one end of the room, 2 suitcases still packed standing beside it.

Annabeth unzipped the cases and rummaged through Percy's belongings: A few sets of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, a small bag of ambrosia and 3 bottles of nectar (for emergencies.) A small box.

Annabeth opened the little box- no bigger than her palm. 11 golden drachmas lay strewn over the velvet bottom.

Accompanied by the coins was Percy's one-of-a-kind watch that transformed into a shield, along with his necklace of beads from camp Half-blood.

And a ring.

Annabeth picked up the small object with trembling hands. The metal was slick and shiny in her hand. The surface of the ring was no wider than a centimetre. It was a light and elegant style.

Engraved in the metal with shiny blue stones were 2 Greek words.

Σοφό κορίτσι
Wise girl.

Michelle had been right.

Annabeth silently slid the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand.

Chapter Text

The trek back through the open field to the jet was empty and weighted. Annabeth hefted Percy's luggage as well as a few material things she'd found in her house in her arms, resolving to search through all of it later. Her mind was clouded with a million thoughts and questions.

What happened to Percy?

Is he dead?

Who killed them?

Where is the murderer now?

This is a suburban neighborhood- half a mile out of the main city limits. How come the gunshots didn't call the attention of the neighbors?

What will happen to my house- did my dad even have a will?

Mostly, Annabeth's mind was overwhelmed with the horrific images she had just seen. As hard as she tried to rid herself of the recent memories, the frozen horror movie remained an ever-present nightmare in her already burdened brain.

It wasn't like she'd expected to be able to help Percy- the action of whatever went on when Percy hung up on her would have been done long before she arrived at her destination.

Still, Annabeth could not deny the shock that made her body feel numb and her ears buzz.

Peter walked closely beside her, helping Annabeth carry Percy's suitcases. He didn't offer any words of sympathy or condolence, merely being a much-needed presence.

Soon they were all buckled into the unnecessarily comfortable jet seats, Happy clicking and flicking buttons and switches Annabeth only half understood, and Tony Stark whispering soft words to his friend she could not make out. Pepper's face was still lit by the blue light of her Stark Pad on the other side of the aisle, but her eyes were set upon the silent teenagers opposite her, her brow taut in concern and curiosity.

"I can hear the sirens." Peter whispered quietly beside Annabeth, almost to himself.

"What?" Annabeth looked over at her friend.

"The police are on their way." Peter closed his eyes in concentration. "8 cars full of them, 2 ambulances and a firetruck." Peter looked up at the ceiling, his face laced with confusion. "What exactly did Mr. Stark tell them?"

The jet lurched, taking off into the sky. Annabeth was surprised Happy hadn't warned them of the departure. He must've just looked into the back seat to make sure everything was in order.

For a couple of minutes, nothing could be heard but the soft thrum of machinery. Pepper was immersed in her Stark Pad, her nails tapping out lightning-speed messages. Happy and Tony remained in quiet conversation.

No one really knew what to do.

No one really knew what had happened.

Annabeth hadn't given anyone other than Peter a sufficient amount of information. Heck, most of the occupants in this space hadn't even met her in person until the day before.

"You're going to have to give them something, you know." Peter's whispered sentence echoed Annabeth's thoughts exactly.

As horrible as the world was, an entire family living out in the suburbs getting shot in their sleep and a visitor who'd only been there a couple of hours going missing immediately after wasn't a common occurrence.

Most of the avengers were already suspicious of Annabeth. And somehow, Annabeth knew that after this moment, she'd be linked to the team in one way or another whether she liked it or not.

She wouldn't tell him everything, but Tony was curious about the whole situation. Something had changed, and she had a feeling Percy's disappearance had nothing to do with Hera's schemes or amnesia and switcheroos this time. She had a spreading feeling that she'd need Peter and Tony's help in the near future.

She couldn't keep this man who had helped her so willingly (No matter what his motivations were) in the dark for much longer.

Annabeth looked over to the boy beside her. "I know."

...

Peter honestly didn't even know how they'd gotten to this moment in time.

Annabeth had (unknowingly) woke him up in the very early hours of the morning with terrible news. Somehow Peter had convinced Mr. Stark to use one of his private jets to fly a girl he barely knew across the country over a dire situation he knew scarcely anything about.

What had they expected to find?

What were they expecting to do?

Peter couldn't remember what plans had been made. If they'd made any, at that.

Because, in reality, the jet would never have been fast enough to help with anything. Happy had started that jet for no other purposes than the fact that Annabeth didn't know what else to do.

No one had expected to find Percy Jackson in that house.

Unless they found his corpse.

Now they were back on the jet, going back to New York- everything had happened so quickly, without a sufficient explanation.

And now Annabeth was- explaining being a demi-god to Tony?

He was just so confused.

He had told her to trust Tony, though. He'd told her to give Mr. Stark something more.

This was what he had meant?

And Peter couldn't help wondering what this meant. His aunt was killed just over a week ago. And now Annabeth's family was dead, too.

And it was all coincidental?

But maybe it wasn't.

Either way, they were connected now- he and Annabeth- and not just as project partners.

They would all have to tell each other the truth.

The plane was dreadfully quiet as Annabeth explained how she was a Greek demi-god, how she had spent the early years of her life at a summer camp that only allowed demi-gods and other Greek should-be-mythical creatures into the camp. Demi-gods trained for their challenges they would no doubt face in the near future.

Annabeth left out things personal that she had told Peter.

Considering she'd only known Tony Stark for a day, it made sense.

Peter had a feeling Annabeth really didn't share these secrets to anyone unless she felt it necessary.

Something told Peter Annabeth was thinking the same things as him- she felt the connection the two teenagers undoubtedly had from here on out.

Annabeth Chase was connected to the Avengers now.

Peter's senses couldn't predict the future he and Annabeth were yet to face, but that alone he could tell.

"And anyone who wants to go home- if they have a home to go home to, that is- leave after the summer and try to make it through the school year without blowing anything up or causing a war." Annabeth finished her explanation. Everyone in the plane was quiet. Pepper's stark pad was lying in her lap untouched, her hands resting lightly on her knees.

"Chase-" Tony started, his voice heavy with concern. "I think you're in shock."

Annabeth opened her mouth to argue, but Peter took the chance to join the conversation.

"She's telling the truth." Peter's voice was louder than he intended. Everyone turned their attention to him, except Happy, who was very good at his job and obviously needed a raise.

"What?" Tony looked at his intern incredulously. Pepper sighed into her hands, eyeing the teenagers with something between concern and knowing dread.

"Just think about it, Mr. Stark. Why wouldn't demi-gods exist? Thor exists." Tony opened his mouth to reply, but Peter cut him off. "We've been to space! We've met blue people!" Tony just shook his head, but his resolve seemed to be crumbling.

Happy spoke up from the pilot seat, his facial features void of expression. "Kids got a point, Tones."

Annabeth hastily reached for her phone. "Look! We had to make these phones because when we use technology, Greek monsters can track us through the signal. These are special so we can communicate normally." Tony eyed the phone wearily. Annabeth dropped the small device in her lap and rummaged through a backpack in the seat behind her, coming out with a small jewelry box. It's contents jingled at the sudden movement.

Annabeth popped open the latch of the box and tenderly pinched a small coin between her thumb and pointer finger. She held it out for the skeptic in front of her to take.

"An ancient Greek drachma. We use them to create iris messages, a sort of communication we did before Leo made these phones." Annnabeth looked up at Tony hopefully. His eyes told her to keep going.

Annabeth huffed and took a ring off her finger Peter hadn't noticed before. She gingerly placed the small piece of jewelry in Tony's hand. He eyed it closely.

"Percy gave that to me. The letters- they are Greek." Tony wasn't looking at the ring anymore, though, rather, the finger Annabeth had removed it from. Peter followed his line of sight.

Then it hit him.

The ring was an engagement ring.

"But then again, people get jewelry engraved with other languages all the time, so I guess that doesn't prove anything." Annabeth once again rummaged through Percy's luggage she and Peter had carried onto the jet. After a few seconds, she pulled out an orange t-shirt with the words Camp Half-Blood on it, with the outline of a Pegasus underneath. Tony wasn't paying attention, though, his gaze still fixated on the ring.

His eyes were filled with sadness for the girl he had so tried to help.

"This is our camp t-shirt." Annabeth's voice was rushed. She had noticed where the jet's occupant's attention had gone, and she was now quickly trying to redirect the conversation.

"I've got pictures, too!" Annabeth quickly entered a password into her phone and was soon scrolling through photos until she found the one she was looking for.

Annabeth thrust the phone into Tony's outstretched hands and took her ring back, sliding it once more on her ring finger. It took a second for Tony's eyes to redirect and register the image on the phone. His eyebrows raised as he took in whatever he was seeing.

Noticing Peter's curious stare, Tony passed the phone to him.

The photo was a clumsy shot of two teenage boys- one was blond with electric blue eyes caught in the middle of an annoyed eye-roll. However, his lips were quirked up ever so slightly. Sitting on his shoulders piggy-back style was a scrawnier guy with brown curly hair and brown eyes. He was trying and failing to keep a straight, stern face. His right arm was extended high above his head, Lady-Liberty style.

Peter held back a gasp when he realized the boy's raised fist was ignited in a red ball of flame.

Then he realized the blond boy was levitating off the ground.

"The kid with the blond hair is named Jason. He's a son of Zeus-" Annabeth paused and shook her head, smiling slightly. "Well actually, he's a son of Jupiter, the roman version of Zeus, but" She noticed the confusion was growing and stopped abruptly, clearing her throat. "But that's not really important. Anyway, that's why he can fly. And the kid on top of Jason is Leo."

"The kid who made the phones?" Tony interrupted.

Annabeth nodded. "Yes. He's a son of Hephaestus, so that's why he is so good with machinery."

"Don't think I'm clueless. I know its very much possible to just photo-op all this stuff." Tony gestured toward the phone in Peter's hand.

Annabeth sighed heavily. "I could... but why would I?"

The plane was quiet. Tony opened his mouth, before shutting it once again, shaking his head.

"C'mon, Mr. Stark." Peter's voice sounded whiny to himself. He cleared his throat in an effort to steady it. "You've heard things crazier. We of all people should at least consider stories like this."

"Why would you tell me all this stuff, anyway?" Tony was holding desperately to his skepticism, but Peter knew their points made sense. He knew Tony knew it too.

"I just-" Annabeth swallowed. Her voice was shaky. "I have a feeling your going to need to know. Better now than later."

Moments passed. Everyone was thinking the same thing, Peter knew.

The same thing he had been thinking mere minutes earlier.

The newfound connection was (he hated using this word) inevitable.

Finally breaking the silence, Tony huffed and slapped his hands into his lap. He looked at the teenagers behind him, a new air about his features.

"So, Annabeth Chase- Who are you a daughter of?"

Annabeth smiled, grateful Tony at least believed her a little bit. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and war strategy."

"Well," Tony closed his eyes and leaned back against his co-pilot seat. "That explains a lot."

...

Annabeth scrubbed the blood she had somehow gotten under her fingers away under the burning hot water in the sink. She was back at the Avenger's compound, despite her earlier protests. She had insisted on returning to her hotel room, but Peter had urged her to stay one more night with him.

He was like Percy- his puppy eyes were hard to resist.

Once Annabeth was content with the condition of her shaking hands, she turned off the faucet and looked into the mirror at her reflection. Their were dark circles under her eyes, and her blond curls were tangled.

In her rush to get to Percy, she hadn't even brushed her hair when she had woken up.

Sighing, Annabeth left the unnaturally clean bathroom and headed towards the common room where she heard voices.

As she got closer to her destination, a mouth-watering smell filled her nostrils. Bacon and gravy, and maybe blueberries?

Peter was sitting on the leather couch, sitting by someone else- Wanda Maximoff. The friends looked up as Annabeth entered, and soon Wanda was at the unsuspecting teen's side.

A tender hand was placed on her shoulder. Wanda held out her other hand for Annabeth to shake, offering a small smile. Annabeth took it, surprised.

"We haven't properly met. I'm Wanda." Wanda dropped Annabeth's hand and led her onto a couch.

"Peter- would you mind leaving for a moment?" Peter's head shot up, confused. But upon seeing Wanda's stern face, he obeyed and quietly walked out of the living space.

Wanda turned back to Annabeth, her eyes gentle. "I am sorry for the abruptness." Wanda's accent was thick, which was new. Last time Annabeth had heard her speak, she had sounded completely normal.

"I came over here as soon as I heard your- predicament." Annabeth inhaled sharply. "You see- my parents were killed when I was very young. My brother- I was not much older than you." The young woman's voice faltered as her eyes glistened with tears. She blinked furiously before continuing to speak.

"The world is corrupt. Nothing is fair. But-" Wanda's voice became more accented still, filled with grim determination. "If you give up, you've already lost."

The world went silent, the room burdened by two who shared more than they knew.

Annabeth was beginning to realize things she hadn't ever thought about before. She had been so busy trying to survive the next day for all of her demi-god life that she hadn't really payed attention to what was happening in the mortal world. But these people had been busy- this team- trying to survive and keep other people they didn't even know alive while at it.

They'd all suffered some amount of trauma themselves.

And yet here they were, together, once again helping someone they didn't even know.

Wanda's grip on Annabeth's shoulder tightened.

"You'll find him, Annabeth Chase. Peter will help you. I will help you." Wanda's brow was drawn tight, her eyes hardened in confidence. All signs of tears had disappeared.

Grey eyes met blue ones.

Wanda's gaze didn't relent as she spoke her next words.

"I promise."

Annabeth believed her.

"So." Wanda offered a small smile and stood from the couch, pulling her new friend up with her. "Are you hungry?"

...

The sun was just beginning to set. It really was quite a spectacular view from the floor Annabeth was on.

The grain of the wood under her knuckles was smooth and cold. The feeling made Annabeth want to lay her head against the table and just sleep, but her mind was jumbled and full and would never allow for such a chance of temporary peace.

When Annabeth had gotten off the jet it had been only 10:30am in New York. After eating a breakfast that would've been heavenly had she not just been consumed by overwhelming grief mere hours ago, Annabeth used the remainder of daylight to sort through the things she had brought back from San Francisco. The alone time gave her more time to try and gather her thoughts and organize them, but it was a hopeless task. All Annabeth could think about was blood and death and finding Percy.

Tony had gone to "discuss the matter at hand with the team" hours ago. He was a couple floors above the one Annabeth was residing on.

Peter was off somewhere, too. Annabeth had been left completely and utterly alone, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Among the things Annabeth had found in Percy's bag was a brand new knife, almost an exact replica of the one Luke had given her ages ago. It was a masterpiece; it could only have been made by Tyson.

Annabeth figured it probably would've been a gift to her. After she said yes.

She twirled it in her fingers now, aching to stab the sharp, glistening blade into something. To unleash her anger and sorrow into anything other than herself.

But she would never disrespect the property of these few who had been so kind and generous to her.

And so Annabeth flipped her new weapon over and over in her hands, music blasting into her eardrums in a hopeless effort to tune out her worried, frenzied thoughts. Piper had sent a playlist to her before she had started college months ago, and she had gone through every song a thousand times before. Now, the familiar melodies were reduced to mere background noise as her mind continued to overwhelm her.

The sun dipped lower and lower in the sky until it was only a sliver of orange, casting hews of soft pink and white into the dark speckled dome that was space. Even with the city's bright lights and pollution, it was beautiful.

Annabeth slumped in the chair and closed her eyes, her knife still gripped tightly in her hand. She wanted so badly to go back in time. To have gone with Percy to see her family. To get them all to safety before anything bad happened.

To go back even further, when she had had a morning with Peter building legos in the park.

She would have scheduled the meet for just a little bit earlier, and insisted it'd be at Peter's apartment. Then she'd get he and Mrs. Parker as far away from the building and the unfortunate fate as possible.

Somehow.

Only she couldn't go back in time, and she couldn't save the dead.

But maybe she could save Percy.

Well, she certainly had good help. Not only a few new super-human friends, but her friends who had supported her and saved her life many times over.

They had all gone their separate ways- Jason and Piper were spending the summer going from camp to camp to help form friendly relationships and wipe away any more tension between the Romans and Greeks. Leo had devoted his summer to helping Calypso become re-accustomed to the world she had been away from for so many years. He said something about starting his own mechanics shop/ karaoke-night restaurant. Hazel and Frank were at Camp Jupiter, Frank most likely consumed with praetor duties, Hazel by his side. Grover was the head of Counsel of Cloven Elders- he seemed to always be busy. Nico was- well, Annabeth really didn't know what Nico was doing. He had found love, though- someone that finally made him happy. It made Annabeth smile when she thought about it.

What mattered was, all of these people wouldn't hesitate to drop whatever they were doing and help her.

In fact, a bit of contact from her old friends probably wouldn't hurt at all.

Annabeth reached for her phone with the hand that wasn't holding the knife, when something landed on her shoulder, warm and hard.

And suddenly she was seven again, and the world was a blur. She just had to run, get over the hill, but they were closing in, there was so much screaming. Something grabbed her shoulder tightly, and she swung her knife into the monster. She didn't turn around to see it turn to gold dust as it wailed in pain, just kept running.

"Annabeth!" Peter's voice jerked her from the memory, and reality came into focus.

The chair she had been sitting in was knocked over on the floor. Her knuckles were white around her knife, and something dripped from the shiny new celestial bronze.

Blood.

And Peter stood in front of her, gripping his shoulder tightly. Dark red oozed from between his fingers.

"Gods of Olympus, what did I do?" Annabeth dropped her blade on the floor and took Peter's hand away from his shoulder, observing the wound.

"It's not deep- I'll go get a rag to put pressure on it." Annabeth ran to the buffet counter and began rummaging through drawers until she found a stained kitchen rag.

"Here. Hold this." Annabeth put the rag on Peter's shoulder and pressed his hand against it. Soon the blood had began to slow. She sighed shakily and rubbed her hands down her face.

I can't believe I just stabbed Peter.

"That's- That is some knife you've got there." Peter chuckled without humor, looking at Annabeth with concern. He put the blood-soaked rag on the counter and reached down to pick up the weapon on the floor.

Because of his enhanced healing, his small wound was now merely a thin slit in his skin. Annabeth sighed with relief and picked up the fallen chair before once again slumping into it.

"Man. My spidey-sense failed me again!" Peter shook his head in disbelief. Annabeth smirked. "No one is perfect."

Peter flipped the red-tinted weapon in his hands, examining it closely. The daughter-of-Athena watched him with dull notice of what was really happening around her.

Annabeth was tired.

"This... Really is some knife you have here." Annabeth's eyes adjusted into focus. Peter was holding the blade up to the light, curiosity and concentration lacing his features. "What type of metal is it made out of?'

Annabeth blinked and frowned, following Peter's gaze. The magical material glinted in the light.

Luke's voice echoed in her head from long, long ago.

Now, Annabeth, Celestial Bronze only hurts monsters. You could slash and cut all you want, but this metal won't hurt a mortal.

"It-" Annabeth swallowed.

She didn't understand.

It will hurt you, though. So you need to be careful.

"It's celestial bronze." Her voice sounded weak to her ears.

"Celest- What?"

Celstial bronze couldn't hurt mortals.

Maybe his powerful senses made things different.

But she couldn't be sure.

"Hey Peter- you remember that deal we made a couple days ago?" Annabeth steadied her voice and turned to her friend.

Peter set the weapon in his hand down and looked at Annabeth, confused. "The one about me taking you to Avengers Tower and you taking me to your camp?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah."

Peter cocked his head to the side. He looked like a confused puppy. "So?"

Annabeth stood from her chair and offered a small smile to Spider-man. "You kept your end of the bargain." She closed her eyes and took her weapon from Peter's hands. "Its time I kept mine."

...

Chapter Text

The drive to Long Island felt like deja vu. It had only been a few hours since they had gotten back from their jet ride to San Francisco, and the only difference in this car drive and the earlier journey was much, much heavier traffic and less of a distance to travel.

Likenesses: Annabeth still felt a heavy sense of dread as the time went by. She felt that an undesirable fate was quickly approaching, and, once again, she could do absolutely nothing to prevent it.

Really, she didn't know why she felt the way she did. On the jet, she knew that she'd find the dead bodies of her family in that house. She had figured the chances of finding Percy at the house in a good condition or at all were considerably slim after he had failed to answer text or call on the way to San Francisco.

She had had every purpose to feel hopeless and full of dread.

But now- Peter had been cut by her magical blade. There were a thousand explanations, most of which weren't a legitimate cause for the feeling she had.

His spider powers may have made him immune to the protection mortals automatically possess from the celestial bronze.

Or maybe the blade wasn't completely made out of the immortal material- perhaps it was mixed with a normal metal, like Luke's Backbiter had been.

There was only one way to find out.

If Peter couldn't get through the invisible barrier surrounding Camp Half-Blood, one of these explanations was likely.

Unless he was a greek monster in disguise.

Annabeth physically rolled her eyes, and looked over at the teenager sitting in the passenger seat. As if. He had his headphones in and was humming quietly to the tune, his wide Bambi eyes fixed on the world outside the window. Peter's knee bounced vigorously up in down on the floorboard, and he tapped his fingers quickly against his leg. There were very few times when Annabeth had seen him still or silent.

He probably had ADHD.

And that was something Annabeth found herself being ridiculously afraid of. The thing that gave her such a sense of dread.

That he would go straight through the barrier. That the knife had pierced his skin because he was like her. A demi-god.

Or really, she was afraid of what would come after. Of what this would mean.

Because she didn't know.

...

"So-" Peter's eyebrows were raised high. "We just walk down the hill? No strings or traps or anything?"

Annabeth sighed. She was trying to be vague with Peter. She didn't want him to know anything until she knew what was going on, who Peter was.

But being the smart guy he was, it was becoming difficult.

"Peter, stop overthinking. Of course they won't just let anyone in." Annabeth let her eyes roll and shook her head. "There's an invisible barrier that only lets demi-gods through, but it can be opened."

"Oh." Peter gazed down the hill at the barn and strawberry fields he was undoubtedly seeing. "So are you going to call somebody to open it?"

"I already did," Annabeth lied. "Before we left." Annabeth prayed to all the gods a camper on watch wouldn't kill her or Peter until she could explain things.

Peter shrugged and stepped out of the car, Annabeth following suit. She ran over to where the boundary line was, one that wasn't marked but she had still memorized the location of over her years of living here. She wondered if Peter's sixth sense could feel whatever magic the boundary was made out of. She couldn't, and she hoped he didn't have the ability either.

"Are you already on the other side?" Peter asked tentatively from a few steps behind her.

Annabeth looked down at her feet, imagining a line between the normal world and the place of refuge and wonder she called home. A few inches and the farm would be gone, replaced with Camp Half-Blood.

"No." Then Annabeth took a step.

Nothing felt different. But when she looked around, the sky was just a bit clearer thanks to the magic climate controlled bio-dome. She could see the golden fleece glittering in the branches of Thalia's pine tree, the amazing Athena Parthenos statue standing guard beside it. Down the hill, she heard laughter and figures roaming around in the signature bright orange t-shirts, playing basketball, climbing the lava-wall, sitting in clusters in the amphitheater.

A guard stood watch nearby, who had obviously noticed her presence but made no attempt to attack. Instead, recognition was written on their face, and they were smiling. Annabeth squinted and soon recognized the features- her half-brother, Malcom. She smiled and waved at her kin.

"Annabeth? Can I cross? I won't get shot, right?" Annabeth jumped and turned back to her friend who was standing mere feet away from her. In the pleasure of the sight she hadn't realized how much she'd missed during her few months away, Annabeth had completely forgotten of why she was here. With Peter.

Annabeth looked back over at Malcom, who had also noticed Peter and was climbing down from his watch post with his sword in hand, suspicious. Annabeth vigorously shook her hands in his direction until she caught his attention, then shook her head and offered a thumbs up.

Malcom tilted his head, confused, but remained where he was.

Annabeth turned back to Peter. "No. you won't get shot." Annabeth gulped and offered a small smile. Now was the moment she would know why that blade had pierced Peter's flesh.

Annabeth thrust her hand back through the barrier, beckoning Peter in. He hesitated for a tenth of a second, before taking a step forward.

Then another.

Annabeth's hand fell back to her side.

One more step and he'd ram into an invisible wall.

Peter took the step.

And then her friend was standing only a few inches away from her, and she couldn't move. Annabeth hadn't realized she had been holding her breath, but now she found it hard to release it.

Peter looked around at the wonders around him, his eyes wide. He gazed down at the hill below him, at all the demi-gods laughing and talking and playing games.

He was a part of this in some way. A demi-god, some mythical creature in disguise, or maybe even-

"What the heck? Peter's unexpected outburst finally forced Annabeth to breath as she turned to face the confused and slightly terrified voice. Annabeth gasped and stepped back as she was met with what had startled her friend.

"Gods of Olympus-" In a distant part of her mind Annabeth acknowledged Malcolm leaving his position and running towards her. She could only focus on one thing, though- the glowing red owl shining over Peter's head.

Peter squinted up at the symbol, his mouth hanging open in awe and confusion. "Is this supposed to happen?" His voice was shaky. Annabeth didn't answer.

"Annabeth- Who is he?" Malcom had come to stand beside his cabin-mate, and his voice was low and dumb-founded as he gazed up at the slowly fading owl. His sword was by his side, hanging only from the tips of his limp fingers.

Annabeth swallowed and turned again to the camp behind her. Peter had attracted the attention of a few relatively close campers, who were making their way up the hill, swords and daggers in tow.

Annabeth turned back to Peter. His eyes were wide with a mix of fear and suspicion. She met them.

"Malcom, meet Peter." She offered a small, weak smile, and let the words she next spoke sink into not only the present company, but Annabeth's storming mind as well.

"Our brother."

...

"So let me get this straight. You think I'm one of you?"

Peter was so utterly confused.

He had almost got blinded by a floating owl, and then suddenly there were teenagers everywhere with bright, bright t-shirts bombarding him with questions, with very reflective weapons, and it was so, so bright-

Our brother.

That was what she had said. Then she and some other kid had pulled him down a hill into a weird-looking building where a horse with a people body had forced him onto a couch and handed him a whole plate full of Oreo's...

He was so, so confused.

"I don't think, Peter, I know. That owl above your head-" Annabeth patted Peter's fluffy hair no one could seem to resist touching, "Means you've been claimed. By Athena."

"But-" Peter started, but Annabeth talked louder to drone his argument out. "Also, you wouldn't have been able to get through the barrier if you were mortal."

Peter gaped. "You told me it had been opened so I could get in!"

Annabeth bit her lip, her eyes filling with guilt. "I lied."

Peter sighed. He tried to be mad, but he couldn't. Not when she looked so sorry.

He was just confused.

"And-" Annabeth gulped. "When I stabbed you-"

From across the room, the horse-man (or centaur, Peter remembered from some mythology class at some point) dropped a plate of Oreo's he had been preparing and turned sharply to Annabeth.

"You stabbed him?!" Chiron blanched, eyeing his camper in disbelief.

"Accidentally!" Annabeth huffed and bent down to pick up the broken cookies on the floor. "The point is, the blade was celestial bronze. It won't hurt mortals."

Peter shook his head. He couldn't- he wouldn't believe this.

He'd seen and heard and witnessed a lot of unbelievable things in his life.

Aliens? No joke.

A radioactive spider that could give you crazy powers? His own past.

A camp full of kids that were half-gods? He was in it.

But there was no way he was a part of it. His mom was Mary Parker! He was sure that if his apartment was still standing, Aunt May would have had some embarrassing video or picture somewhere proving this fact.

But maybe not.

"At first I thought your powers had something to do with it-" Annabeth started, bringing Peter out of his thoughts. "But there's just too much evidence, Peter. You got claimed. It all adds up. It makes sense!"

Annabeth's voice was drawn out, pleading with him to understand.

"No." Peter just couldn't. This would change everything he ever knew about himself and his family. "No, it doesn't make sense."

Annabeth sighed and slumped back into the sofa, running her hands down her face in frustration. The centaur eyed both of the teenagers with pity.

Suddenly Peter felt footsteps nearing the building. In a few seconds, a girl had burst through the door and was on top of Annabeth before anyone could protest.

"Annabeth! You didn't tell me you were coming!" The girl's voice was filled with glee and excitement. She had brown, choppy hair braided down her back, with two blue feathers sticking out near the top. She sported the bright orange Camp t-shirt all the demi-gods wore, with a holey pair of skinny jeans and some navy green sandals to reveal blue toe nails that matched the young women's hair feathers.

"Piper! Get off-" Annabeth's muffled voice came from the deep in the couch on the other side of the hug. Piper released her friend and stood back, grinning widely. Annabeth regained her posture and smoothed out her hair, laughing.

Peter felt another set of footsteps a few feet outside the door, and soon there was a teenage boy standing near the edge of the room, seeming to try to decide between a look of cheerful reunion and one of distraught. After a few moments, Peter recognized him as Jason, the floating guy from Annabeth's picture.

"You haven't texted, haven't called-" Piper took her phone from her back pocket and gestured at it vigorously. "Do you know how to use one of these!?"

Annabeth laughed. It took Peter by surprise- how she could go so quickly from being angry and upset to desperately trying to convince Mr. Stark of the impossible, to being unhealthily wrapped in her thoughts, to shock and guilt, and back to the desperate convincing.

And now she was grinning and laughing.

Either his friend was just a really good actor, or she was really hormonal.

Probably both.

"I've been busy, okay? Lay off." Annabeth playfully pushed Piper away.

"Too busy for your friends?!" Piper placed her hand to her chest and pouted.

Annabeth laughed again, and pulled her teasing friend into another hug. "Of course not."

Over Annabeth's shoulder, Piper's brown-green eyes met Peter's chocolate ones. She frowned slightly and pulled away from Annabeth, her brows furrowed.

"Who are you?" Piper's voice sounded slightly suspicious, and full of curiosity. Annabeth looked behind her as if just remembering Peter was there.

"Oh! Piper, this is Peter. Peter, Piper." She turned her hand toward each teen back and forth. "He's a new camper."

"New camper?" Piper eyed the boy on the couch quizzically.

"He's brand new. Like, 20 minutes new. Son of Athena."

Peter shook his head. He still wasn't believing this. "No, I'm-"

But Peter was interrupted by a loud throat clearing. Jason, who had been standing by the door quietly during the entire conversation, finally moved from his impatient stance and walked towards Chiron.

"As nice as it is to see you, Annabeth, we've got more important matters at hand right now." Jason shot a glance at Piper. Her eyes widened.

"Yeah." Piper gulped and turned away from Annabeth, who was glancing at both of the teenagers, confused. "Chiron, there's been a-"

Jason spoke over Piper. "There's been an attack!"

Chiron narrowed his eyes at his camper and pushed towards the front of the room where he was standing. Piper shut her mouth and shot an annoyed look at Jason, who ignored it.

"An attack where?" Chiron locked eyes with the demi-god.

"Camp Jupiter." Jason's voice was grave. "Me and Piper were heading that way from here, you know, and-" Jason looked down, trying to form his next words. Piper stepped up beside him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"We saw the smoke from about a mile off. There was a ring of fire around the barrier. But whoever had tried to bomb it or whatever couldn't penetrate it." Piper paused and shared a knowing look of dread with Jason, before continuing. "Jason flew us over the fire and into the camp. We were going to see Reyna. But-" Piper paused and sighed heavily.

"But she wasn't there." Jason finished. At this Chiron's eyebrows shot up, as well as Annabeth's. Peter was still stuck on one word.

Bomb.

This was all too weird. His apartment getting "bombed" or something of the likeness, Annabeth's family being murdered and Percy going missing, Peter all of a sudden supposedly being a demi-god, and now- Now another camp had been bombed? All in a matter of a few days.

"Reyna wasn't there. Hazel and Frank had been visiting, though- Hazel said these people had invaded the camp, merely 2 or 3 dozen, they had come through the barrier from the top." Jason bit his lip as he tried to recall what his friend had said. "She said they- the people who came through the top of the barrier- they seemed to be sliding down on invisible ropes. They wore all black, and you couldn't see their faces."

Sounds like a typical bad guy, Peter thought.

"Hazel said the people in black reached the ground. And when they did-" Jason stopped and closed his eyes.

Piper picked up the rope again. "She said no one could remember anything after that. Only that they had been in some kind of sleep, and when they woke up, a fourth of the campers had just disappeared."

Jason nodded solemnly. "And no one knows what happened, or where they went or were taken. The guys and their invisible ropes, Reyna and some other campers- all gone."

...

Chapter Text

"Gone?" Annabeth's voice wavered between suspicion and confusion.

Jason nodded grimly. "Yeah."

"And no one knows where they were taken to, how they were taken there, why? Nothing at all?"

Jason shook his head. "Apparently everyone simultaneously blacked out and when they woke up, a fourth of the campers were gone."

Annabeth threw her hands over her head and let out a huff of frustration. "Great! This is just great." She glared at every possible object. "A powerful camp full of powerful Roman demi-gods, and suddenly a fraction of the population is gone."

"Population.." Chiron scratched at his chin in thought. "You say some of the campers were taken, but what about the adults and families who aren't actually in training but live inside the barrier? Were any of them taken?"

Jason closed his eyes in memory. "No, I don't think so."

Chiron raised his eyebrows. "You don't think so? What did Frank and Hazel say?"

Jason opened his mouth to reply but then paused, and if his expression could get any gloomier, it did.

"We didn't- actually talk to Frank." Piper's pain-filled eyes gave away everything.

"They didn't take him too?!" Annabeth gasped.

Jason closed his eyes and nodded once again. "Yep."

"Seeing as both praetors disappeared, Hazel has temporarily taken on the role of leadership. Right now they are trying to take a census of who all was taken, and form plans for how to fight whoever these beings are and reclaim the abducted demi-gods." Piper laughed without humor. "Though I guess that's difficult, not knowing who they are, where they went, what transportation they used, or if they'll attack again."

Annabeth sat down beside Peter, who was zoned out and had a look of confusion and concentration on his face at the same time. Annabeth didn't bother to snap him out of whatever trance he was in- he wasn't exactly a lot of help in this situation anyway.

"That's kind of why we are here," Jason started. "We needed to warn you. If they attacked Camp Jupiter, they could attack Camp Half-Blood too, at any time."

Chiron sat down in his magical wheel-chair, taking form of a normal human being. "Well, thank you for warning us, but I'm not sure we can do anything else but just be alert. From what you've said, the time between the black-clothed people coming down on ropes you cannot see and the passing-out of everyone at the same time is a slim increment. However, I will have the Apollo cabin and anyone who can wield a bow be on alert at all times, taking shifts, until we have figured this out." Chiron put his fist to his mouth and coughed loudly, his eyes those of someone tired and in need of a very long rest. "Miss Mclean, if you please." He gestured towards the door. Piper obeyed, sprinting out into the light and already yelling the names of a few children of the sun god.

"It's gotta be connected-" Peter mumbled beside Annabeth. Jason and Chiron turned towards him.

"What?"

Peter's head snapped up towards his friend. "Sorry. Thinking out loud."

"What's connected?" Chiron's authoritative voice quickly bounced off the walls of the quiet room.

Peter shook his head and opened his mouth to protest, but caught eyes with Annabeth. She nodded her head, her curious eyes telling him to let it out. He hesitated for a few more long moments, but upon seeing the stern expressions of Jason and the centaur, he obliged.

"The bombing of my apartment. Your parents being killed and Percy being kidnapped." Peter was cut off abruptly as Chiron stood quickly from his chair, re-taking the form of his magical self, and Jason's shell-shocked "Wait, what?!"

"Hold on, hold on.What about Percy?" Chiron's eyes were aflame with something Peter didn't have enough brain space to describe at the moment.

"Who got bombed?" Jason asked at the same time.

"Ok, everyone chill out." Annabeth's voice wavered as she relived the events of that morning to the flabbergasted party, and then proceeded to talk about Peter's apartment being bombed. Once she was finished, the world was once again deadly silent. After what seemed like half and hour of awkward and depressing dead air, Peter broke the quiet.

"So anyway-" He turned to Annabeth. "It's got to all be connected. The bombing, Percy missing, and now this- all in a few days. It can't be a coincidence."

No one answered.

"I mean, it could be a coincidence. Crazy stuff happens all the time. Like I'm sure someone is probably getting murdered right now somewhere and I wouldn't even know about it. But it just doesn't seem-" Annabeth interrupted his rant.

"No, I think you're right, Peter. It can't be a coincidence."

...

They had spent at least 3 hours talking. Sharing stories. Trying desperately to form some kind of plan or theory as to what they were going to do to solve a problem they weren't exactly sure what was.

Peter felt out of place, surrounded by people who had known each other long enough to create lifetime memories and have many adventures together.

Peter Parker wasn't apart of this story.

Annabeth had seen the doubt in his eyes, though, and told him he was a part of this story now. He was definitely connected, and besides- he was her brother.

Yeah- he was still kind of skeptic about that.

But then again- he'd never had a sister before.

He kind of liked the sound of it.

"Right, Peter?" Peter jumped at the sound of his name. Annabeth was looking at him expectantly, her eyebrows raised.

He tried to recall whatever question she had asked of him, without success. Upon seeing he obviously had no idea what she had said, Annabeth repeated her question.

"The bomb that blew up your apartment- it was dropped from a plane. Right?"

Peter pondered the question for a moment, racking his memory of the conversation he and Tony had had in what seemed like ages ago.

Actually, now that he thought about it-

The news reporters said an accidental bomb fell on the building. But he hadn't ever seen video footage of any flying object dropping anything, flying away from the wreckage- he hadn't actually heard anything about the whole "accident" since the day it had happened and the funeral held for the apartment's occupants a few days later.

Not even Tony had told him anything about the incident since that day. He had already been skeptical about the whole situation the minute he heard about it.

The whole ordeal was wacky.

Someone was hiding something and apparently hiding it very, very well.

With no friends panicking over something happening hours away and adults telling you to throw a party or sulking over losing your last piece of blood family, you had a lot of time to think about these things.

And nothing lined up.

"I- I have no idea."

Jason was sitting criss-cross on the floor in the big house, picking at a loose thread in his t-shirt. His eyes were narrowed in thought.

Piper was sitting next to him, looking increasingly frustrated with the conversation. They had been trying to connect everything that had happened so close to each other- than realized how many holes were in some of their stories. "I don't think I've ever been this confused."

Peter was about to agree when his phone pinged next to him. A new message from Mr. Stark lit up his screen. He quickly typed in his password and read it:

Hey kid. Where'd you and that blond chick go?

There was no way Mr. Stark just called Annabeth "blond chick." Internally groaning, Peter typed out a vague reply.

Walking

Mr. Stark's reply was almost immediate.

Well can you walk her back to her hotel room? Me and you need to have a chat.

Peter glanced over at Annabeth, who was chewing on her lip quizzically.

"I have to leave. Mr. Stark needs me for-" Peter glanced at the other demi-gods in the room who, as cut off from the normal media and stuff as they seemed to be, he still didn't really trust them knowing about him living with an avenger or having an alternate identity. "Internship purposes."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, but shrugged and shut the lap top she had been organizing notes in and jumped off of the couch. "Yeah, sure. I'll ge-"

"You have to stay here." Peter hadn't meant to cut her off or say it that abruptly. She eyed him suspiciously and made no move to retake her position on the sofa. "I- I mean, you obviously have some catching up to do, and I can just take a cab, an-and bring you the stuff you left tomorrow, I just-" Peter stopped and huffed in exasperation. He shoved his phone in the direction of Annabeth, urging her to read the message Mr. Stark had left him. After a few silent seconds, she shrugged again and flopped back onto the couch, handing his phone back to him. "Ok. See you tomorrow."

Peter found his way out the door after a few quiet and curious "byes" from Piper, Jason and Chiron, and found that the sun was beginning to drop below the horizon. He made his way back up the hill and through the barrier, before grabbing his web shooters from his pockets and pulling his hood up over his face. He'd just have to stay high where no one could look to closely at his face.

It had been a long day.

...

Annabeth read through the notes she had taken on her laptop.

Peter's apartment gets bombed

No survivors

Who dropped the bomb?

No footage of bomb being dropped or of the blowup

Was it even a bomb? Peter says there really isn't a way a bomb can blow up just one building and cause minimal damage to its surroundings

Why isn't anyone talking about it? No news reports since last week, the day of.

*ask Tony Stark if he has found anything on this situation not released to the public

Camp Jupiter Attacked

-Ring of fire around barrier

--someone tried to bomb it??

-beings dressed in all black come down through barrier on "invisible ropes"

-everyone "blacks out"

-fourth of the camp is gone including both praetors

-civilians not in training camp left alone- did they ever black out?

*interview one of the normal civilians at the camp to figure this out

Parents Attacked

Attacked same day Percy shows up

--only a few hours after he arrives

No evidence in the house as to anyone having been there other than the bodies

*ask Tony if he has gotten any questions from the police about the situation or the bodies or if they went to another family member on my stepmom's side for answers

Could Percy have been "kidnapped" the same way the occupants of Camp Jupiter were?

Peter

Already 16 and hasn't been eaten by Greek monsters

Why hasn't he been attacked by Greek monsters before? Or has he?

*ask Peter if any of the criminals he has ever fought look not-human or tried to eat him

Was that radioactive spider he told me about a Greek monster?

Do his spider powers keep him from being attacked by Greek monsters?

The notes were not very well organized, and vague, and didn't help Annabeth at all. The only connection she could half-way make was between the kidnapping of campers at Jupiter and Percy's missing case.

She was not feeling very wise right now.

She read through the notes again, this time aloud to her friends. Leaving out everything about spider-man, of course. After speaking for less then five minutes, Jason groaned loudly and Piper just shook her head.

"I am seriously getting freaked!" She all but yelled."None of this makes any sense! How can we fight something when we don't know what we're fighting against, when or where they'll attack again, or how to fight against the stupid black out!"

"Or what's causing the black-out, or if its even a black out." Jason ran a hand through his short blond hair, clearly frustrated.

"What do you mean, "if it's even a black out?"' Piper snapped back at her boyfriend.

Jason gave a weak shrug. "They could be stopping time, or something crazy like that. They could be doing anything."

Piper kicked a chair, before yelping and grabbing her foot. "Ow."

Despite the situation, Jason smirked. "Yeah, ow. What did that chair ever do to you?"

Piper glared daggers at him, clearly stressed and anxious. "The chair certainly isn't helping."

...

Peter swung onto his usual window, one that led into the Avenger's common room. One that had been left unlocked for him lately. His expectations were met; the window slid open with ease at his touch. He quickly crawled into the building and out of the wind, shutting the window softly behind him.

Tony was sitting on his personal director's chair, a gag gift he had gotten from Rhodey last Christmas that read "Stank" on the back. He was sipping lightly at a beverage held in a plastic red cup. The liquid smelled suspiciously of alcohol to Peter's enhanced senses.

Upon seeing him enter, Tony gestured for Peter to take a seat opposite him. Peter obliged, slumping into a couch and watching the genius across from him with piked curiosity. Mr. Stark rarely ever drank around him.

After a few minutes of awkward silence in which Peter tapped his foot vigorously and impatiently on the floor without ceasing, Tony finally set his drink down on the coffee table he had pulled closer to him and looked up at Peter.

Peter was shocked at his expression. Tony looked kind of- scared? Panicked?

And sweaty.

"Mr-Mr. Stark? Is something wrong?" Peter started tentatively.

Tony sighed, and once again turned his gaze to his red cup, but made no move to pick it up.

"Listen, kid- I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, about a lot of things-" Iron Man spoke quickly and his eyes darted in every direction as he was speaking. He lacked his usual poise and casual-yet-intimidating stature that only Tony Stark could pull off.

Peter wondered what would ever make him act this way.

"I've been building a lot more projects, I added some upgrades to your metal suit- obviously not the spandex one, as far as I know that ones shoved in your backpack-" Tony trailed off as his train of thought went off track. "How long have you had that backpack? I swear you had a different one just last week. Funny how things just wander-"

"Mr. Stark, this isn't what you called me in to talk about, is it?" Peter hated to interrupt his mentor, but a topic was obviously being avoided.

Tony sat silent for a few moments, before replying. "No. It isn't."

Peter leaned forward in his seat, eyes urging the genius in front of him to continue.

Tony took a breath through his nostrils before continuing. "I've had a lot on my plate- Morgan wants a dog, Pepper took her to look at some baby golden retrievers at that place down the street... One of them looked kind of like you, Pete, really adorable-"

Peter groaned and ran his hand through his hair. "Mr. Stark-"

Tony continued to ramble. "But I just don't want to have that fur all over the floor, and maybe I'm allergic, I actually don't know. But her birthday is coming up in a couple of months and Pep thinks its a really good idea. And then Happy has been acting really depressed lately because-" Tony cut himself off abruptly upon seeing the way Peter tensed up. He sighed heavily and slumped against the couch, rubbing his temples.

"Come on, Tony. Ranting is the kid's job. Okay-" Tony sat up straight again. "Kid, I've been thinking a lot lately-"

"Already been an this point, Mr. Stark."

"Don't interrupt me. I've been thinking- I mean, I had this idea- well, it was actually really Pepper and Happy's idea, and also kind of Morgan's idea, she's been a bit confrontational lately. But then it kind of crossed my mind a couple of times this past week.."

Peter huffed, his patience growing thin. He understood now Mr. Stark's annoyance with his ability to go on and on and on over absolutely nothing and stand completely oblivious. "Mr. Stark, what was the idea?"

Tony was tapping vigorously on his chest now, a habit from his arc-reactor days he did most often out of nervousness.

"Well- Look, Pete, I know this is a touchy subject and I get it, but it's difficult to fly around it at this point-" Tony's voice lowered and slowed to normal-person speed, taking on a gentle tone. "Your living here now, Peter. You don't have any living family members left, and as much as this has felt like an eternity, it hasn't even been two weeks since the incident. I don't know how much longer it'll be before they put you into foster care or something- I'm not sure how these type of things work-" Tony gulped. "I have no idea what's happening or whats going to happen here on out. Everything is such a mess."

Peter tried to process the words coming to rest in his mind. Not even two weeks? No living family members? Foster care?

"-And Morgan likes you a lot- And Pepper- And me. I like you too, Peter." Tony was desperately grabbing for words that made sense out of the air now, trying to emphasize his point. Peter tried his best to put his brain cells to work and understand.

Tony groaned when he saw the boy across from him still wasn't getting it. "Ok. Ok. Peter- and this'll take your consent too, though I'm pretty much sure everyone else is already on board- it will take a while but at least it'll be done-" Iron Man closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. When he opened them, his eyes finally met Peter's, full of so many emotions- sadness, yet hope, and fear, yet pride.

"I want to adopt you, Peter."

Chapter Text

Peter replayed what Tony had just said in his head. Over and over, trying to comprehend the words.

Mr. Stark wanted to... adopt him?

As in- make him his son?

Peter opened his mouth to reply, to say what he was feeling, to tell his mentor what this meant to him.

Only, the ability to form one coherent thought- let alone a coherent word- had flown out the window a while ago.

Peter's jaw remained unhinged. Tony's already awkward and sort of panicky expression- so foreign on his usually casual and sarcastic face- became more uncomfortable as Peter remained uncharacteristically silent.

"Um. Peter?" Tony ran his hands through his unkempt hair. "It's your call, kid, but I do need an answer."

Peter shut his mouth and tried to plan a sentence in his head. Or a word. He just needed one.

Yes.

Why was this so difficult?

Peter closed his eyes and swallowed. His throat was dry and refused to work with his brain.

"Pete?" Tony sighed. "I mean, I understand if you don't want to- I'm not exactly-"

"No."

Peter's weak voice finally escaped his lips, and he hurried to form another couple of English letters into a formidable sentence that would convey what his mind was still trying to create.

"No? No, you don't want to do this, or no-"

"No- no, I want to."

Tony lifted one eyebrow, waiting.

Peter stuttered, hating the universe for making him such a sociable person, and yet making him so socially awkward at the most important of times.

"No- I mean yes- Y-yes -I" Peter sighed in frustration and slouched. "Look, I- I do. Want to- want you to-"

Tony looked like he finally understood. Like he knew what Peter was trying to say.

"Yes?" The word was so small and yet spoke an unbelievably large and important question to both of the people in the room.

But Peter had already made his choice the moment Tony had told him of his plan.

Even if he just didn't know how to word it.

"Yes."

Tony cracked half a smile, obviously relieved. "I'm so glad. You don't know how upset Morgan would have been when she figured out she wasn't going to have Spider-Man as a brother." Tony smirked. "She told me the other day that you are her favorite super-hero. That little traitor."

Peter laughed and smiled. Suddenly the emotions he had tried so hard to deal with over the last couple of days was too much for his mind and body to hold, even with his super strength. Something overpowering and painful burst inside of him.

"Kid..." The genius in front of him's eyes softened and his smirk dropped from his face, replaced with a concerned and sympathetic frown.

Peter had hardly noticed the tears that were running down his cheeks, and now he could not stop them. He rubbed at his eyes furiously, his face flushing red as he hastily tried unsuccessfully to stop his out-of-nowhere bout of emotion.

He didn't want to cry in front of Mr. Stark.

But before he knew it, he felt a pair of strong, supporting arms envelope him, and he was slumping into Tony's embrace as he sobbed.

"I'm so sorry, kid. So sorry all of this crap has happened to you." Tony's voice was indeed incredibly apologetic, though Peter wasn't sure what there was for him to be sorry for.

"Pete- talk to me." Tony's voice was gentle, lacked all of it's usual sarcasm. "Tell me whats wrong."

Peter hesitated- he never had been very good with conversation that involved anything other than pop-culture references or science.

But something told Peter that if he let go of some of his emotions- let someone else carry some of his burden- that things might be a little bit better. Maybe.

So he tried.

"I just can't believe she is gone." Peter's voice was cracked and muffled in his mentor's shirt, but Tony seemed to hear clearly, and made it obvious he was listening with intent.

So Peter continued.

"First it was my parents, then Ben- I thought I'd finally have someone that would be there for me forever. Or a long time, at least."

Iron Man remained silent.

"I just- forgot things could end this way." Peter's voice wobbled with grief. "And with all that has happened this past week, I didn't really think a lot about May, until you mentioned it." Peter inhaled sharply. "I hadn't realized how alone I was."

At this, Mr. Stark stepped away from the boy in front of him, determination set in his features. His voice was firm when he next spoke, devoid of hesitation or doubt.

"If there is one thing I know, it's that you are not alone anymore." Tony offered a small smile. "Now- only if you completely want to- you can have a dad, and a mom, and a crazy team of superhero idiots." The man quirked up his lip into another Stark worthy smirk. "In fact, I'm pretty sure most of the team already adores you. Wanda might as well be your babysitter. And I'm sure Nat is just dying to teach you the top ten ways to killing someone with your shoe." Mr. Stark laughed at this, and Peter felt some of the tension that had been weighing down his shoulders fall to the ground and shatter. It wasn't much, but still. It was a start.

"Oh, and don't forget- a sister."

A sister.

That reminded him...

"Malcom, meet Peter. Our brother."

He still couldn't decide if he believed that or not.

Everything added up. The sign of the owl shining above his head, the celestial bronze knife that wasn't supposed to cut his supposedly mortal skin, the fact that he could get into the barrier without any help, how he could just walk through.

But he was still hanging onto the small piece of memory he had always thought to be fact- his mother was Mary Parker. Not the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Not Athena.

And Annabeth had told him about how she had been attacked unrelentingly by Greek monsters before she made it to the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood- Peter had never been attacked by anything other than muggers and bank robbers.

Oh, and a few aliens.

But nothing that looked like a human and tried to eat him. He didn't think so, anyway.

But even before Annabeth had tried to convince Peter of the family tie they had, Peter had already felt a connection with the girl- he had thought the very thing to himself multiple times. So why couldn't this be real?

Welcome back to the show where Peter is confused and his mind is uncooperative. Airs every hour daily.

Why was he making things so complicated? He was getting quite a few new family members. Might as well add one more.

Or a dozen, Peter thought as he remembered the fairly large cabin marked with an owl he had passed at the camp.

Only one of those cabin members mattered to him, though.

"Uh, Peter? Are you good?" Tony's voice was once again laced with concern. Peter snapped himself out of his swarming thoughts and focused on one thing:

He wasn't going to be alone.

Annabeth had lost her family and the love of her life just shortly after him. Earlier today, actually.

Peter didn't want her to be alone, either.

Eh, what the heck. Son of Athena he was.

And his mentor, who had done so much for him and was now prepared to do so much more- he deserved to know what Peter was. Even if he could still hardly believe it himself.

"Hey, Mr. Stark? About that sister thing..."

...

It was dark outside now, finally. This day had gone on and on, feeling like an eternity in itself. It had started in the early, early hours of this morning, presenting horror and mysteries and really, really surprising surprises.

And Annabeth was so exhausted, she couldn't even find a better adjective for surprise than "surprising."

And her fatigue was definitely not beneficial when it came to her friends asking a million questions, only a quarter of which she knew the answer to.

"...And I haven't seen you in forever! Or Percy!"

Annabeth groaned. "Piper, that is entirely beyond the point!"

"Well, I wouldn't be asking you so many questions if you'd actually keep in touch!" Piper spat.

Everyone was on edge. When the group had realized they were about as close to getting answers over the dire situation at hand as they had been 3 hours ago, the teenagers started getting restless and ill-tempered with each other.

"We were busy, we had college and I had a huge summer project and- well, Percy wasn't exactly flying through his assignments with ease-"

"And you consider school an excuse not to text me?"

Across the small room, Jason had somehow brought a rolling chair through the small door at some point in the minutes after Peter had left, and was spinning around without much energy in it.

"It's not like you texted me either, Piper. We've obviously all had a lot on our plates." Annabeth sighed, her tiredness knocking into her again and leaving her to fall into the sofa behind her. "Had you even seen Hazel since Leo came back a couple months ago, before earlier today?"

Piper sighed in defeat and slumped down next to Annabeth, shaking her head sadly. "Vaguely."

"And Leo?"

"Not since he came back with a girlfriend." Piper bit her lip. "Actually, I haven't seen him at either of the camps, or Calypso. I've gotten a few texts, like you, but other than that, nothing."

Annabeth nodded solemnly. She hadn't really noticed how she was neglecting her old friends, being so busy and building a stronger relationship with Percy.

With all the months that had gone by without seeing her fellow demi-god's faces, she wondered now how much she had missed of their lives.

"We need to have a reunion."

Piper gave a weak laugh. "I don't think this is the best time."

Jason spoke up for the first time in the last half hour, having silently listened to his two friends argue with each other out of their anxiety and fear of not having any idea of how they would solve the conflicts at hand.

"I think now is the perfect time."

Piper glanced over at her boyfriend, who seemed to be half asleep, his electric blue eyes only partly visible through his blond eyelashes.

"What?"

"We've saved the world and the futures of all demi-gods once already. Together." Jason shrugged and offered a small smile. "Why not do it again?"

"We can't really save anybody until we at least know what we are fighting." Piper's voice still sounded defeated, but she returned the small smile her boyfriend had offered her. "But that sounds great."

The small, sweet moment was suddenly interrupted by a loud, thundering boom from outside, and the startled yells of a few nearby campers.

Jason jumped out of his rolling chair, entirely alert.

"What was that?" Annabeth heard herself shakily say. In an instant she was beside Piper, all three of the teenagers running out onto the Big House porch. Shadowy figures holding flashlights and lanterns were running by in various directions, shouting and calling for order. Chiron's authoritative and deep voice could be heard not to far away. Other campers who had been in the shelter of their own cabins were now peeking out just as Annabeth, Piper, and Jason were doing, confused and slightly afraid.

And that was when Annabeth smelled the smoke.

A choking, burning, thick wind was blowing through the strawberry fields and the training grounds, all around. And at the top of the hill, where the entrance to the camp was, Annabeth saw a tall, bright ring of fire making its way around the barrier of the camp, turning everything it touched crisp and black.

Archers were aiming up at the sky in preparation, having already been informed of the attack on Camp Jupiter. Annabeth noticed vaguely that some of the arrows the archers carried were explosive ones. Any intruder who came into the demi-god's sights would be blown sky high.

No people dressed in all black descended on invisible ropes, however. For several long and anxious minutes, nothing happened at all. The only thing that could be heard was the hard breathing of the warriors all around, and the crackling of the fire slowly consuming the perimeter of the land outside of the barrier.

No one dared let their guard down, though. The archer's bow strings remained taut, their arms lifted into the air despite probably being exhausted from holding their weapon towards the sky for so long.

Then Annabeth heard a twig snap behind her. A soft sound, barely noticeable. No one else turned in the direction from which Annabeth had heard the snap, immersed in what they were expecting to come from the sky.

Annabeth slowly turned around, and time stopped as she met the eyes with the intruder- eyes dark brown, matching the curly brown hair that was obviously in need of a trim, hanging loosely just over his ears. His deeply tanned skin would have made it difficult to find his form in the darkness, if it wasn't for the bright flame that danced in the palm of his hand.

Leo did not grace Annabeth with a sarcastic remark or a familiar smirk- rather, his facial expressions were stoic and, well- expressionless.

And instead of wearing his usual accessories- suspenders and his beloved magical tool-belt- the son of Hephaestus was decked out in all black.

And Leo was pointing a gun right at Annabeth's head.

Then time suddenly unfroze, and Annabeth could hear explosions behind her, screaming and chaos.

She didn't even have time to look towards the commotion before the sounds around her dulled and the world went black.

...

"No. Kid. You're making up crap now."

Tony's voice was full of disbelief, and mild concern, his eyebrows furrowed as he gazed over Peter.

"See, I thought the same thing, but all of the evidence supports Annabeth's cla-"

Peter was interrupted by a short, barking laugh from Tony. "Yeah, no."

"Mr. Stark, I didn't believe it either! It's really still hard to- I mean, my whole life I've been told my parents were Richard and Mary Parker- but I could get through the barrier, the celestial bronze cut me, and the owl was burning over my head as soon as I stepped into the camp- and I'd already felt this sort of connection with her before- weird, I know- but I think she felt it too, and I- I kind of want this, Mr. Stark." Peter finished with a sigh, feeling like he had just spilled a third of everything he had been feeling and thinking onto the floor. His chocolate eyes pleaded with his mentor to understand, to just accept what he had suddenly decided might be true. Even though just half an hour ago, he had also been a skeptic.

Tony stared blankly at Peter for a dozen long, long moments, before shaking his head vigorously and turning to pace in unnecessary circles. "Not even gonna lie, Pete. That made absolutely no sense whatsoever."

Peter groaned loudly and collapsed backwards onto the lazy-boy, the chair making a quiet creak in protest. He longed for Mr. Stark to understand- to just get what he was saying.

And now he felt like a hypocrite, because Annabeth had been trying to do just that with him only a few hours ago.

Tony sighed heavily, and made his way to a seat next to Peter's. He looked weary and worn-out, and in desperate need of a long, peaceful night of sleep.

"Listen, kid- I'm sorry. It just doesn't sound like much of a- believable concept.

Peter snorted. "Aliens invade New York!" He spoke into his fist animatedly. "Thor, identified as a Norse god from a faraway planet, has joined the Avengers, a band of new superheroes, to protect the world after landing in a small city in New Mexico a couple of months ago. The powerful celestial supposedly came down from what appears to be a rainbow bridge, actually identified by Jane Foster as an-"

"Ok, Peter, you can stop."

"Captain America, a beloved hero who we all thought died when he sacrificed himself to save thousands of people from what would've been a massive explosion during World War II, has been found alive after being frozen in ice for 70 years!" Peter increased the dramatics in his voice for good measure.

"OK, Peter. I get it."

"Unbelievable basically describes everyone's lives around here." Peter said, his voice returning to it's normal state.

"Yeah, yeah. How do you memorize news reports from years ago and yet you can't pass an 11th grade test on Shakespeare?" The genius in front of him muttered.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Poetry is confusing, Mr. Stark."

Tony laughed. "I agree." The man's chuckle died away, and his expression became more serious. "You really believe you are a demi-god, Parker?"

Peter shrugged. "Annabeth seems to know what she is talking about- and the horse dude also agreed with her." Peter nodded, as if giving himself a confirmation. "And he sounded like a very wise person."

"Horse dude? Wait-" Mr. Stark held up his hand as Peter opened his mouth to reply. "I don't even want to know."

Peter shrugged his shoulders again, like if you say so. "Besides, Mr. Stark, this way I can have two sisters."

"Yes, you've mentioned that." Tony sighed and ran his hands down his face. "I want to know how many of these Athena kids there actually are and how many are orphans, because I don't really want to adopt all of them."

Peter startled and sat up straight. "Mr. Stark, I didn't mean you should-"

But Peter cut himself off. It hadn't really occurred to him, but Annabeth was just as much alone (blood wise) as he was. And Mr. Stark was considering-

"But Mr. Stark, she'll be gone just as soon as she gets here. She's engaged, remember? So as soon as we get Percy back she'll probably get married to him and go live at the other camp or something."

Tony smirked. "That girl isn't even 18 yet. And high hopes, Peter. There are a lot of ifs in that little prediction."

"Ok, number one- they are not ifs, they are whens. Don't be so pessimistic."

"I prefer the term realist." Tony's voice held no sarcasm or smirk, only truth.

"And second- love is love." Peter's voice rang into the air with finality.

"When did you become such an expert?" Mr. Stark's eyebrows raised high to his head, a teasing smirk clearly evident on his face.

...

A deafening ringing was all she could hear, any other sounds trying to reach her ears muted.

The ringing took an eternity to subside, and when it did, Annabeth was surprised to be met with silence. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times so she could see clearly, only there wasn't much to see. The world was dark around her, other than a few glimmering stars far in the sky she could see in her peripheral vision.

The great fire had gone out. As Annabeth's eyes adjusted more and more in the shadows, she caught glimpses of other campers lying in the grass around her, moaning and lifting their faces to their surroundings as they also woke up.

Annabeth realized with a start what had happened. The same thing had happened to Camp Jupiter earlier that morning- the ring of fire, everyone blacking out. Which meant-

"No one seems to be missing." Annabeth had to stop herself from screeching in terror as she looked down at the dark blue converse standing beside her head.

Piper offered a hand to her friend, who gladly took it and clumsily made it to standing position.

"Not everyone woke up at the exact same time." Piper swallowed thickly, her voice raspy from the smoke still lingering in the air. "Me and a few other campers split up and tried to do a small census- no one seems to have been taken. Not a fourth of the camp, at least."

Annabeth squinted around her, her brain functioning sloppily and trying to comprehend all she had just heard.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, maybe we scared them away. Maybe whatever knocked all of us out was set on a timer or something, and the people on invisible ropes left before they took anybody."

Annabeth shook her head. "That can't be right."

Piper licked her lips and gently tugged at Annabeth's wrist. "Come here."

The two girls walked a couple of yards, and then Piper stopped and pointed down.

A man completely covered in black other than his face, which had been unmasked, lay on the ground awkwardly. His limbs were splayed at odd and impossible angles. Two arrows were embedded in his body- one in his hip and the other puncturing the side of his head. He was dead, lifeless.

"There are three others. The archers got in a few good hits before everything went dark, and we think it might have scared the rest of them away momentarily." Piper's voice held just a tiny edge of satisfaction.

Annabeth stared down at the face of the man- his skin was extremely pale, and even paler freckles danced along his cheeks and ears. Cropped, mahogany-colored hair covered his head. Annabeth had no idea who he was.

Then she remembered Leo. She hadn't been dreaming, had she?

"Pipes- does anybody recognize any of these people?"

Piper shook her head. "Not that I know of, no. Why?"

Annabeth inhaled sharply and was about to tell her friend all she had seen, when something below her caught her eye.

In the corner of the dead man's black jacket was a tiny symbol, barely noticeable and dark red.

Annabeth heard herself gasp as she leaned closer and recognized what the symbol was.

A skull with six curling tentacles looked up at her as she looked down upon it, taunting her.

"What is it?" Piper was down on her knees beside her friend, squinting at the small stitches in the cloth.

Annabeth gulped and was already reaching for her phone, the contacts open and the phone buzzing as she waited for the other end of the line to pick up.

"Hydra." Annabeth answered, and lifted her device to her ear. Piper just looked confused, but didn't ask another question as Peter finally answered the phone.

"Hey, Annabeth! You realize its like midnight, right? I'm kind of busy right now so can we-"

"Peter," Annabeth interrupted, her voice urgent and yet kind of wobbly. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Hydra, and the Winter Soldier."

Chapter Text

"Winter Soldier?" Peter was wondering if he had heard right, or if the late hours and fatigue had finally consumed his mind and made him go crazy.

It was a very real possibility.

"Yes. And Hydra." Annabeth's voice was kind of wobbly, like she had just witnessed something that would give her nightmares. "And if there is someone close by who knows something you don't, ask them. Are you with the Avengers?"

Peter was getting more confused by the minute. It was starting to become a common thing.

Peter glanced down the hallway where he had left Morgan, and Mister and Mrs. Stark waiting in the common room. Tony had called his wife almost immediately after Peter had given his assent of the adoption, and now they were all celebrating.

Peter didn't think he'd ever felt happier. He finally had everything that he'd never had, or lost. It was easy to almost forget about the events that had began almost 24 hours ago.

"Peter! Are you still there?" Annabeth's voice sounded urgent and more than a little frustrated. In the background, Peter could hear a familiar girl's voice pestering his friend with questions despite the fact that she and he were obviously in an ongoing conversation.

"Yeah- uh, hold on a second." Peter trekked back into the common room with his phone held against his chest and came to stand across from his mentor, who looked up at him with a pleasant expression. Pepper and Morgan were busy giving each other manicures on the carpet.

"Hey, Mr. Stark?" Peter started, his voice laced with doubt.

"Yeah?"

"I need to ask you- hold on." Peter put his phone back up to his ear, where there seemed to be something chaotic and loud happening. Annabeth was repeatedly shushing the girl who was still bombarding her with questions- Piper, maybe.

"Hey- what was it you wanted again? Hydra?" At this, Tony furrowed his eyebrows at the boy standing across from him, and Pepper shot Peter a look of confusion.

"Yeah- yes- where the heck is Jason?" Annabeth's voice was becoming increasingly louder in volume, and increasingly annoyed. "Yes, Hydra and the Winter Soldier."

"Right." Peter hesitated, but then, realizing Annabeth would not have called at this time of night if it wasn't important, once again directed his attention to the genius who was no longer smiling in front of him.

"Uh, Mr. Stark, do you know anything about Hydra, or- um," Peter rubbed the back of his neck as Tony stared up at him in confusion and suspicion. "The Winter Soldier?"

There was a long moment where nothing could be heard except the faint sounds of chaos coming from Peter's device, and the soft voice of Morgan, who was singing a sweet, soft rhyming song Peter wasn't familiar with.

Finally, after an eternal, awkward silence, Tony's eyebrows raised to an impossible height on his forehead. "What?"

"Hydra. And the Winter Soldier. What do you know?" Peter spoke slowly as if Tony hadn't heard him correctly, but the man just shook his head. Pepper's lips were pursed as she tried to find a deeper understanding to what exactly was going on.

Tony rolled his eyes at Peter's repeat. "No, I mean, why?"

"Uh-" Peter began lifting his phone back up to his ear without thinking, but Tony just waved his hands vigorously in front of him and made Peter's movements stop abruptly.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Tony's voice was laced with suspicion and mild concern.

"Uh-" Peter's brain cells had all fallen asleep throughout the day, and now he seemed to be left with dangerously few in action. His eyes found the name on his phone screen to give him a conformation as to who he was speaking to- he was really considering that he had actually lost it at this point.

Peter read the name on the screen. "Annabeth."

Mr. Stark gawked. "Why does she want to know about Hydra?"

Once again, Peter pulled up a blank. He was exhausted.

He needed a coffee.

Mr. Stark doesn't let you drink coffee.

"That is an excellent question." Peter pulled his phone back up to his ear, where things had gotten much quieter. Annabeth must've found a peaceful place to resume the conversation.

Turning away from his mentor and sitting on a chair across the room, Peter waited for Annabeth to say something. When she didn't, he decided to ask the million dollar question of the minute.

"Annabeth?"

"Still here. Got anything for me?" His friend had seemed to gather herself and sounded relatively calmer.

"Yeah, about that- why exactly do you want to know about this stuff?"

Annabeth sighed as if she had been expecting the question. "Its not exactly the best story to try and explain over the phone."

"Do you want to come here?" Peter offered, glancing at Mr. Stark, who was still looking at him suspiciously, and looked like he might come and take the phone and ask the questions himself.

"No- no, I think its best if I stay here for now." Annabeth sounded utterly fatigued and a little upset, but altogether her voice was steady and edged with a sort of determination. "Look, if you really want to hear the story right now, I'm sure we can figure out something- I think the threat is gone for now."

"Threat?" Peter sighed. "I'm gone for a few hours, and something else has to happen without me."

Despite what seemed to be dire circumstances, Peter thought he heard a small laugh from his friend. "You're living the demi-god life, Peter Parker."

"Is that it? Because if being a demi-god is what causes all this trouble, I'm pretty sure the majority of the Avengers are demi-gods."

"You think so?" Annabeth teased.

"You'd be surprised by some of the sad backstories these people have. It's like, if you're a hero, you're undeniably linked to a terrible past. Myself included."

"I can stab them all with my knife and see whether or not they bleed, and then we'll know for sure." Peter could hear the smirk in Annabeth's voice, and rolled his eyes. "I don't think that's the greatest idea."

Annabeth snickered. Both of the teenagers were quiet for a moment, when Mr. Stark cleared his throat. "Uh, Pete? Have you figured out why she-"

"Oh!" Peter abruptly cut the man across the room off. "So Annabeth, if you have to stay at the camp, do you want us to come there?"

There was a long pause and the sound of a door opening, and what sounded like some mutterings in a language that wasn't English, but Peter was surprised to find that he understood.

They were not nice words.

"Uh- what do you mean 'us'?" Annabeth sounded hesitant and a little freaked out.

"Well, I'm with Mr. Stark and Mrs. Stark and Morgan right now, so-"

Annabeth interrupted. "You can come, and bring Stark and Pepper if you want to. I could maybe let them into the camp." Peter heard the sound of a door opening again, and a restrained curse (in English this time.) "But don't bring Morgan."

"So I should just come by tomorrow morning?" Peter stifled a yawn.

"No!" Annabeth's voice rose in pitch, and she was quick to return it to normal. "No, I need information ASAP. I don't know when they'll come back." Annabeth sighed. "If you insist on knowing the story- what happened- before you want to help me and tell me what I need to know, than you need to come here now. I don't know how much time we have before they prepare another strike, or if we'll be able to scare them away again."

"Who is 'they'?"

"Hydra." That led Peter to a million new questions, but Annabeth spoke again with an air of finality. "Be here in 45 minutes. And don't bring to many people." Peter opened his mouth to reply, but his friend had hung up.

"So?" Mr. Stark stood from his seat and looked at Peter with expectant eyes.

Peter hesitated for a few moments, knowing he had no idea what was awaiting him at the camp nor why exactly Hydra had somehow attacked it- but Annabeth needed information from him, or Mr. Stark, really, and Tony needed an explanation.

Peter laughed nervously. "Want to drive to Long Island?"

...

Leo was cold. Despite the suit being all black and covering the whole body, not to mention it's outermost bulletproof layer, it still did little to help with the strong wind.

A little flame bounced to life on Leo's finger, and he ran it up and down the length of his arm. It brought him a little warmth, though not as much as a normal person would expect flames directly touching their arm to.

He wondered sometimes how he had come to possess this magical power. None of his handlers could ignite any parts of their bodies on fire. Maybe it was an experiment they'd created in the labs.

If that was the case, the experiment was obviously successful. Having your own personal torch at your fingertips whenever you needed it came in handy.

Fire destroyed everything.

He didn't remember ever being brought to the labs, though.

Which didn't surprise him. Leo didn't remember anything other than the past couple of days, except his name, and his master, and his mission.

Leo, Hydra, Destroy.

Easy-peasy. No need to make things complicated.

His memory was wiped of anything that wasn't really necessary before every mission. It was best that way- you didn't need to have anything on your mind than what was essential to completing your task.

He dropped out of the helicopter and onto the grass.

Someone had already poured the gasoline all the way around the perimeter of the camp. All he had to do was set his hand aflame and touch the liquid, like he had done last time.

He did this so that his co-workers above would know whether or not they had to use the "special equipment" to penetrate the barrier, or if they could just walk on in.

But in Leo's opinion, if you wanted to figure out whether or not the barrier would let you in you could just stick your hand out and see if it goes through.

He was pretty sure the ring of fire he would create was just for show.

Anyway, he was about to send the whole perimeter up in smoke when he tripped over a stranded tree branch. Leo didn't know where the hazard had come from or why he was such a klutz, but it happened, and the fire boy (his handlers sometimes called him that) fell forward and into the gasoline, becoming soaked in the choking liquid. That was why it took a minute to comprehend that the scenery around him had changed, once his eyes had stopped burning.

What had been a barn and a strawberry field and woods was now a camp- he had known it was there, just like with the one in California. The difference was, he wasn't supposed to be seeing it.

He had gone straight through the barrier without any special equipment. He had another power, very useful. The boss would be so pleased to know that he could go straight in and do anything he was told to- kill, wreak havoc, burn- without having to slide down some kind of magical rope! He had just become 100% more important to the organization.

He couldn't wait to tell someone in charge. He'd reap the benefits. Maybe they'd move him out of the cell block he was in- he could get access to the big guns, he could get some good food for once- they'd treat him so much better knowing what he could do for them.

Leo! What's keeping you? Get the flames going, we're on a schedule!

Leo grimaced as the angry voice crackled through his earpiece. He had gotten distracted.

Leo stood and brushed himself off, and walked back through the barrier. His hand burst into flame, and he touched it to the wet ground beneath his feet. Within seconds, a bright, grand ring of fire was crackling and smoking around the camp, once again failing to penetrate the magical barrier (as expected.)

Next time do what you're asked when it's asked of you.

Leo sighed. In his opinion, the handlers were always harsh about little mistakes like these. It wasn't like the short delay mattered.

Or there will be consequences. Are we clear?

Leo gulped. They were always just looking for a way to punish him. To hurt him.

"We're clear, sir."

Maybe when they realized what benefits he could bring them, he would gain more respect.

High hopes.

Soon the rest of his co-workers began their attack on the camp. Leo's part was done now- he could go back to the helicopter that had been parked as secluded as possible in the woods.

But...

He could go in the camp. He could help round some of the campers up- he had a gun for emergencies, and his hands, and a few of the sleep detonators- black-out bombs, he liked to call them. He was given a few just in case he got caught.

Now that he knew about this advantage he had that no one else he knew possessed, he could go into the camp and show the people in charge what a great help he could be.

Or he could get in trouble for disobeying orders...

But this was an important moment!

Leo blocked out his doubts and made his way back through the barrier, and watched the chaos around him for a few moments- teenagers running around with swords and various weapons drawn, archers shooting arrows into the sky as his accomplices descended above them.

Leo breathed deeply and took his gun from his holster. He could threaten the straddlers into a corner- round them up- or he could put the take out the bullets and load the detonators into his weapon. He had seen a few people do that during training, and it had worked out pretty well.

Once Leo had his loaded weapon at the ready, he trekked further into the camp and sought out a target. Everyone was occupied with what was happening above them, so he could take his pick.

Near a large building a few teenagers stood relatively close together- two girls and a guy. Leo aimed his gun at the one closest to him, and took a step closer to his target.

And then something snapped.

Leo cursed himself again for being such a klutz. If he was going to be a spy, an important asset to Hydra, he had to at least be careful where he stepped.

The blond girl turned and stared at him in shock and awe. He went to pull the trigger- to finish the little task he had given himself before she gave his position away- but something stopped him.

She looked familiar.

Like, he should remember her name. Who she was to him.

But that happened every once in a while. A red light would flash in his mind, and he would know that he had known them somehow, before his last memory wipe.

They could've been enemies, friends, acquaintances-

It sucked not ever being able to remember anything.

But Hydra said it was necessary- he questioned their motives enough to know that they were always right.

Whether you liked it or not.

Leo tried to shake all these thoughts out of his mind and focus on what he was trying to do, when the world faded out.

They had set off the big detonator.

The one that sent everything in a 150 foot radius on the ground to sleep.

And he was in so much trouble.

...

Percy had never really liked the dark.

Not the kind of dark where it was night, because then you had the stars and the moon and the city lights- it was quite amazing, actually.

No, the dark he had never really felt comfortable in was the one of being in a small space, with nothing to illuminate it. There were corners with even darker shadows, and you had no idea what was looming in them, and you couldn't even see your hand in front of you-

But Percy couldn't really move his hands- they were tied to a smooth surface below him, cold and sleek and quickly becoming wet with his sweat.

He didn't know what direction he was facing- if he was on his back or standing up or on the floor or even the ceiling- he couldn't tell.

And he didn't know where the exit was.

There was no sound other than his own breathing (his only indication as to the fact of him still being alive.)

No footsteps coming from a hallway that may or may not have existed outside of this prison- no windows to tell him what time it was or how long he had been here or what the hell was going on.

Percy felt completely and utterly trapped, and devoid of all his senses. He was deaf, he was blind, he was mute.

Because he had no way of telling if when he spoke, it was in his head or out loud.

Because no one ever answered.

And sleep never came.

How long was ever? How long had he been here- wherever this was? How had he gotten to this moment?

He couldn't remember.

All he could feel or know or see was what was happening right then- the dark, and that he was trapped, and that he was alone.

Maybe he was dead.

...

"And you're sure it was Leo?"

"I'm positive." Annabeth hated to say that, but it was true.

Piper had her head buried in her hands, her face pale. Jason was staring down at his phone, his expression pained.

"I've texted and called surely a hundred times by now." Jason's voice was grim. "I texted Hazel- she said she hadn't seen him since we had."

"Have you texted Cal?" Piper's voice was muffled under her hands.

Jason nodded. "She hasn't answered yet, but I have a feeling she might be missing somewhere too, with Hydra or something like that."

"Try and lighten up a little, Jason." Piper's voice didn't sound much lighter than her boyfriend's.

"Just think about it, though- If Leo had been kidnapped or taken hostage by Hydra, don't you think Calypso would have told one of us out of worry for him?"

Piper didn't answer.

"Annabeth," Jason started, "You had said something about Percy being connected to all of this?"

Annabeth nodded halfheartedly. "I think Leo has been turned into some sort of- 'Winter Soldier'. You know what I mean, right?"

Jason nodded. Though none of the demi-gods ever really talked about what was going on in the world that didn't concern them, most of the teenagers did keep tabs on the headlines.

"So Leo get's captured by Hydra. Maybe Percy did, too?"

Jason shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised. But we don't really know much about the organization- when is Peter supposed to get here?"

Annabeth was relieved for the change of subject and the fact that she might finally be able to get some information, and get closer to rescuing her friends.

"He's on his way."

Chapter Text

"You're sure this is the place?" Tony sounded skeptical as he pulled his Audi to a stop near the top of the hill, and looked down at Camp half-Blood.

But he wasn't seeing the camp, of course- rather, the magical disguise consisting of a farm and strawberry fields.

"Yep- I'm sure. I was here just a couple of hours ago."

A couple of hours ago- man, this whole fiasco had been shoved into just over 24 hours- it was quite possibly the longest day Peter had ever experienced.

*In other words, Ami isn't making any sense again.

"So is there some kind of secret code or-" Tony looked at Peter expectantly.

"Uh-" Peter remembered Annabeth talking about only demi-gods being able to get into the camp. Could Mr. Stark make it inside some other way, or-?

Peter was disrupted from his thoughts as his phone started ringing. Annabeth had called him at the perfect time.

Peter swiped his thumb across the screen and brought his device up to his ear.

"Hello?"

Annabeth's voice rang crackled from the other end of the line. "I'm coming up the hill. Who all did you bring with you?"

Peter shook his head. "How do you know I'm here?"

Peter could hear the smirk in his friend's voice as she answered. "That Audi has got some bright head lights. So who all did you bring?"

Now it was Peter's turn to laugh. "You make it sound like it's some party or something and you want to know what friends I brought. Just Mr. Stark."

Peter could see Annabeth's figure emerging from the dark and coming into he white lights of Tony's car, squinting through the brightness.

"Turn off the headlights!" She grimaced through the phone. Peter leaned over Tony and obliged.

Soon Annabeth was tapping on Peter's window, which rolled down slowly as Mr. Stark pushed a button. Once the glass had concealed itself in the car, Annabeth leaned through the space and smiled slightly.

"Hi."

Tony gave a small wave and smirked. "Long time no see."

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"So-" Peter cleared his throat. "I know I can get into the camp, but can he?" Peter gestured toward the man beside him.

Annabeth sighed. "I can get him into the camp, but just so you know, Stark-" Annabeth gave him a fake, pitiful face. "You're about to get your heart broken and your morale crushed. When you see that nobody in here even knows the name Tony Stark, it'll be a whole new element for you."

Peter looked over at Annabeth with confusion.

She just smiled.

...

Annabeth stood in front of the barrier, and glanced behind her at Peter and Tony. Tony looked like he was waiting for something miraculous to happen, while Peter just bounced on his toes as he waited for her to 'get Mr. Stark in.'

Annabeth turned back to where she knew the boundary line was and crossed over it, and then turned back towards her accompanying party.

"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"

After saying her lines, Peter tilted his head to the side and Tony looked at her with unbelief.

"That's it? Seriously?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes again, but spun around in a circle and did a small interpretive movement with her arms, ending in a gesture towards the guys. "Are you happy now?"

After a few long moments, Tony shrugged and walked in the direction of Annabeth. About 10 paces away from her, he stopped and looked down at his feet.

"At first I thought it was just shadows playing tricks on me- but this ground right here is really dry. And dark and ashy."

Annabeth sighed. "Yeah, I thought you'd notice. That was a part of the attack earlier." At the man above her's quizzical look, she shrugged. "You'll probably get to hear the whole story soon."

As soon as both men had crossed the boundary and were both in varying looks of mild awe, Annabeth began making her way down the hill and towards the Big House. The guys followed not far behind.

After walking for about a minute, Peter spoke up. "Uh- Annabeth? I know you said the camp was attacked earlier, but this looks exactly the same as when I was here a few hours ago."

"Since we knew the attack was going to happen, we didn't suffer as much damage as Camp Jupiter. We shot a few of the Hydra goons down before everybody passed out, and we think we might've scared them off. And-" Annabeth smiled. "We are very good at cleaning up."

"Like hell we are." Annabeth turned as Piper jogged up beside her, brushing her hands together. She turned her head and wriggled her eyebrows at Tony and Peter. "Just finished hiding the bodies."

It was Peter's turn to roll his eyes.

"What the heck?" Tony spoke out suddenly. "Not even one glance of acknowledgement from any of these children! It's like none of them recognize Tony Stark!"

Annabeth nodded solemnly and tried unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. "I knew you would be heart broken."

Tony continued to look around in frantic surprise, obviously shaken by the fact that he had no fans in the demi-god world. Peter jogged up to walk beside Annabeth and gave her a knowing look.

"When I came to camp, I got a crap ton of attention and I blend in. This is totally planned."

Annabeth snickered. "Yeah, we had a little camp meeting around the Ping-pong table before you arrived. I told them y'all were coming and Piper suggested that we all pretend he was non-existent just to see his reaction.

Piper met Peter's gaze and shrugged. "We were all down. Sounded like a good idea to get the whole team in on a nice little joke."

Peter shook his head and returned to his mentor's side, smiling faintly.

Soon Piper, Annabeth, Tony, and Peter were in the Big House with Chiron and Jason, sitting around a coffee table. Everyone was staring at the newbies expectantly, hoping for knowledge on the evil organization that had attacked the camp and how Leo might be connected- Annabeth had filled the present party in on the incident involving Leo after the Camp meeting and clean-up.

After a few seconds of awkward silence and a small bit of instruction after that from Annabeth, Tony began giving away information about Hydra- what they had done in the past, the evil experiments they conducted, the people they collected- and the Winter Soldier- James Buchanan Barnes, how he had been miraculously preserved in his present age from the '40s and had been used to complete horrible tasks under the control of Hydra.

It was then Annabeth knew for a fact that Hydra was using Leo in the same way they had used James Barnes- and maybe he wasn't the only one.

She was almost positive they had Calypso. And they had a quarter of Camp Jupiter too, though she didn't know if they were using all of those teenagers in the same way.

And she was having a sinking suspicion they had Percy as well.

A plan- well, not really a plan, more like a mission statement- was beginning to form in the daughter of Athena's mind.

...

"Ty glupyy mal'chik!"

His handler's voice was angry and harsh, and with every word his rough, callused hand came down on the side of Leo's face. It stung like hell, but he bit his lip and kept quiet.

It was always better not to speak at all.

The large man in front of him continued to scold and scrutinize Leo. It was all Leo could do not to flinch, not to bring his hands up to his cheek to keep it from his handler's wrath.

But of course, his hands were tied to the chair he was mercifully given to rest on.

Leo was beginning to taste the metallic, metal like red he had become familiar with over however long he had been at the facility. He knew the bruise that would soon form would be large and dark.

He felt like a child.

All he'd wanted to do was show him that he was worth more than this- he was a valuable asset and shouldn't be handled like a dirty rug.

He wasn't going to defend his case, however- he had already tried as best he could when his co-workers had found his sleepless form in the outskirts of the camp. They didn't listen to him, and it had only gotten him into more trouble.

His handler would deal out his punishment- however long it might take- and he would just go somewhere else until the torture was over. Until the stinging in his jaw would become a recent memory rather than the present.

Where would he go this time?

Somewhere pleasant. Peaceful. Painless.

He didn't know any place like that.

But his mind had to dish out something- he had very little memories of his other punishment sessions because of the frequent wipes, but he somehow knew that this was his only way to deal with every one of them. His mind would bring him to a place he had never seen, at least not since joining Hydra. A nice one. A distraction. Then he would ponder it for as long as he could, until they did the necessary wipe again and all he could remember was going somewhere.

Leo closed his eyes and faded out to a place unknown- it was bright, lush, green. Sort of like some of the... parks? Yeah, parks Leo had been to for some of his missions, only much bigger.

He looked down to see that he was barefoot. Between his toes and all around, stretching across a great expanse, were tiny little- pebbles, of a sort, only smaller. And softer. They were an off-white color and reflected the sun above, which was shining in the clearest sky Leo could remember in his short span of memories.

He bent down and picked up a pile of the soft little grains by cupping his hands. Even though he kept his fingers tightly closed together, some of the little pebble-like pieces escaped and fell back onto the ground with their millions and millions of brethren.

Something wet suddenly hit the back of Leo's left ankle, making him jump and drop his handful of whatever it was he still couldn't name. He turned quickly and could hardly believe what his eyes were seeing.

It was water. But unlike the small cup of bland tasting liquid at meal times, this 'water' was blue, and it was vast, going as far as he could see. It moved, coming up onto the whiteness of.. the beach! Yes, like Long Beach, where they had planned part of the attack.. Only this beach was so much prettier and clean.

Leo reached down to touch the water. It was warm, but nice. He touched it to his tongue. It wasn't like the bland taste he was used to, it was exotic. And salty.

Leo wanted to walk out into the water, to feel the saltiness up to his knees, his chest- nah, he wanted to go under. But before he had a chance to do any of these things, he heard a pair of soft footsteps approaching him.

He turned around in a fighting stance, but quickly let his guard down as this beautiful girl glided over towards him. She was unlike any girl he had ever seen- some of his co-workers were female, covered in tattoos and piercings with short cropped hair, burned and scarred and glaring at him all the time.

She was nothing like this. Her caramel-colored hair went way over her shoulders, almost to her waist, and danced in the soft breeze. Her eyes were like a precious jewel- sparkling and shining in the glint of the sun. They were dark and shaped like almonds.

Almonds? Jewel? Caramel? Where were these words coming from?

He didn't know what they meant, but they were the only ones he could find to describe her.

She wore a white, plain dress, but it made her look elegant.

Elegant?

Stop questioning it.

She was looking at him as she walked, but it seemed she was getting further away every step she took in his direction.

Leo tried to close the distance, but he was being pulled out into the water he had so longed to go into just moments ago.

She knew it too, and now her sweet cherry lips were drawn downwards in sadness. It made Leo want to cry- he hated to see her upset.

He tried to talk to her- but was reminded that this wasn't real, only a beautiful figment of what might have been in the past.

He stared hard at this girl. This scenic memory was unlike one he had had before, he just knew it. She meant something to him. He promised her something.

He would die for her.

You did.

What?

The salty water was over his head now. He couldn't pull his head up into the oxygen-filled air again, he couldn't see her, he was fading away...

Leo gasped for air.

Strings of soaking-wet hair clung to the side of his bloody face. It hurt to breath, so he coughed instead, and watched as water spilled from his mouth.

A hard, calloused hand grabbed his face and turned him sharply. Cold eyes stared down at him, and an evil smile he had grown used to seeing.

In his hand that wasn't grasping Leo's face was a semi-deep bucket of the cold, bland water, mingled with swirls of red.

"I knew you were awake, mal'chik ognya."

Leo tried hard to avoid the gaze of this ugly, hatred-filled man.

He tried desperately to remember the girl.

He couldn't forget her. Not like all the other times.

He couldn't.

...

"Wait, wait." Jason made a time-out sign with his hands. "I need you to go slower."

Annabeth sighed. 'We'll take their clothes when the archers knock them-"

"No!" Jason threw his hands up and gestured for her to stop. "Start from the beginning. Slower."

"Seriously?" Annabeth looked around the group- Jason nodded, as well as Piper . Peter was looking out the window in a daze. He obviously had a lot on his mind- but Annabeth knew that if she asked him about the plan, he would be on board and wouldn't be hard to fill in. Tony was staring hard at the notes Annabeth had taken, trying to comprehend. When Annabeth's unbelieving eyes met Chiron's, he just shrugged. "Some of our brains can't work as fast as yours."

Annabeth huffed and dropped her hands onto her knees. "Ok. So Hydra has attacked both camps. Now, they have a large portion of Camp Jupiter, Leo, probably Cal- And maybe Percy." Jason nodded. "I got that."

"So," Annabeth continued, "My plan is to infiltrate the base where they're being kept hostage."

"-Yes." Jason drew the word out, looking hesitant. "I got that too- only how do you plan on doing that?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and looked at her friend in frustration. "I told you the plan already, I am trying to re-explain. So stop interrupting me!"

Jason quieted and rested his head in his hands, eyes saying go on, I'm listening.

"So, we'll make our move when Hydra attacks again-"

"Assuming Hydra attacks again-"

"Shut it, Grace- I can work out the kinks later." Annabeth glared. "So when they come, we'll have the Apollo kids shoot them down, discreetly steal their clothes and ID, and then board their helicopter in disguise. We'll arrive at the base and- jailbreak?"

Everyone stared at her, unimpressed.

Annabeth sighed. "Ok, there are a lot of holes. It sounded better in my head."

Tony tapped his fingers on the coffee table, humming. "Not only is your plan very holey, it's also cliche."

Annabeth slumped against the couch. "No need to be rude. My brain is about as useful as mashed potatoes right now."

"I like mashed potatoes," Piper mumbled.

Peter stifled a yawn. "Yeah, I think we all need a little nap. Or Annabeth and me, at least."

Jason stood from his seat, and pulled Piper up with him. "Me and Pipes can keep watch for a couple of hours. We'll wake you guys up if something happens."

Peter looked up, surprised. "You just want us to sleep here?"

Jason shrugged. "Why not? Or you two can go sleep in the Athena cabin. But either way, the both of you look like crap."

...

Chapter Text

The glass of water placed in front of Percy was warm and metallic tasting. Still, he gulped it down quickly for fear the handler in front of him would change his mind.

The man in front of him stared expectantly. Percy stared back, confused.

He didn't know what the man wanted.

Suddenly, the man grabbed his arm and pulled him out of his chair, taking Percy by surprise. He shoved him into the hallway outside of his cell- the cell he had never been out of, not that he could remember anyway- and gestured angrily for him to begin walking.

Percy obliged, and followed this man down a winding corridor and into an elevator. After what seemed like at least a minute, the elevator opened and Percy was shoved out of the small space. The elevator door's closed, leaving Percy in a very large room, with flickering florescent lights lining the vast ceiling.

The room was so unlike that of the one Percy had previously been in that it was difficult not to stare in awe all around him. The huge room was filled with tables, and they were all empty- except one near the far end of the wall.

A boy probably not much younger than him was staring down at the table's surface, seemingly trapped in thought. Not having a clue what was going on or what he was expected to do, Percy sat down across from the boy.

For a few long seconds, neither of the young men did anything.

Then the elevator Percy had just came from dinged, and a girl was shoved out of it roughly and fell to the floor.

Once the elevator had again slammed shut, Percy stood from his seat and made his way over to the girl. He extended his hand to her and, hesitantly, she took it and climbed to her feet.

Percy didn't know why he had so quickly helped this girl. He had never met her.

Or maybe he did, and he just didn't remember.

He'd probably never know.

The girl was sporting the same black outfit they had all been provided. Her light brown hair was chopped just below her ears, and made her dark eyes seem even darker.

She had a few scars and bruises lining her jaw, not unlike Percy and the other guy that still hadn't moved from his table.

She was beautiful- the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Actually, the only girl he remembered seeing.

The girl looked around the room, then met Percy's gaze once more, confusion laced into the creases in her forehead and the purse of her lips.

"What is this place?"

It took Percy a moment to figure out she was talking to him.

He shrugged. "Heck if I knew."

Her gaze only grew more bewildered. She pointed towards the far end of the room, at the boy that had still yet to move. "Does he?"

Percy shrugged again. "Maybe."

She left Percy's side and began walking towards the other guy, leaving Percy to catch up.

"Hey!"

She continued walking "Yes?"

"Do you know what's going on?"

She stopped and turned to him. "Do you?"

Why would I ask you if I knew?

Percy shook his head.

"Maybe he does, like you said."

Percy startled as she began walking towards the boy who had just now finally looked up from the table.

"Hold on!"

The girl stopped again and turned to him. "What?"

Percy sighed. "What's your name?"

The girl's lips quirked up just slightly. Percy understood. When you didn't remember anything, it felt good to know something belonged to you, identified you.

" Asset #7. Callie. Yours?"

"Asset #15. Percy."

Callie nodded and turned back to the other boy, only he wasn't sitting down anymore. He was standing only a few paces away from Percy and Callie, with a look of horror on his face.

He was staring at the girl beside Percy.

She stared back at him for a long moment, before sighing. "What?"

"You shouldn't be here."

Callie shared a confused look with Percy. "So you know what this-"

Callie was abruptly cut off as the other guy brushed past her, his hands pulling at his unkempt hair. Percy followed behind him.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked tentatively.

"Did they put you through another wipe recently? I always get sick after those- I think." Callie said skeptically. Percy looked over at her.

"You mean we get more than one?"

Callie shrugged. "I think so. I feel like they don't try to era-"

Callie was cut off again as the other guy cried out in frustration.

"Seriously. What's wrong?" Callie hesitantly took another step towards the other guy.

He turned to her, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

"You were in my good place, and I thought you were from the outside, but you're here, and if you're here maybe I've never been out there before Hydra. Maybe you were just a partner in a mission, and that means that Hydra is everything if you're Hydra too."

Callie took a step back from the other guy. Percy wanted to do the same, but instead met eyes with him.

"What's your name?"

The guy startled as if he hadn't expected that response. "Leo."

Percy waited for more, but he didn't get Leo's number. Maybe he was different and didn't have one. "OK Leo, can you explain that whole thing you just said again?"

...

Nikolai watched the grainy footage of the 3 teenagers interacting with each other. So far they hadn't really done anything suspicious or strange- mostly the same reaction as the ones before them. Confusion.

He didn't have the volume on- he found that usually the teenagers would talk little, if at all- most likely something along the lines of 'do you know where we are?' 'no.' 'neither do I' and then they would exchange names. That was about it. It really wasn't worth the annoying buzzing that came through the headset Nikolai wore when he turned the volume up.

"Nikolai!"

Crap.

Nikolai shoved his headset on and turned around as Dmitri strode into the room. His eyes were somehow gleeful- excited.

This was the expression that Nikolai had grown most afraid of over the years of working for this man.

"Are they ready?" Dmitri's voice was impatient and expectant.

"I-I suppose-"

"Perfect." Dmitri grinned a grin you might see on a villain in a fairy tale, about to take a strike. "I will send the devchonka to her friends, and we shall begin! Call for her handler, would you?"

Nikolai nodded, but his fingers were hesitant to reach the keyboard in front of him.

After a few moments of Nikolai failing to complete his small assignment, Dmitri huffed angrily.

"Well? What is the wait?"

Nikolai sighed and turned towards the man. "It's just, sir- They all knew each other before the wipe. Are you sure they won't recognize each other, or someone at the camp-"

Dmitri hit the desk angrily. "This is not the Winter Soldier all over again, Nikolai! The wiping is much more advanced. These deti will only know Hydra, or they will know death. Send in for her handler."

This time, Nikolai brought his fingers down upon the keypad in front of him and soon a red dot on the side of one of his many monitors was alerting him that Asset #47's handler was making his way towards the two men in the room.

They had been working on the plan for months, kidnapping stray demi-gods around the globe (though most of them were in America) and bringing them to this base, wiping their memories, and training their minds to think only of Hydra, and their mission.

Only a few days ago they had attacked one of the camps, and taken as many of the demigods they could hold. There had been more than anticipated. The over-sized load of enhanced were all memory-wiped after just a few hours- not before getting their names, though. Trying to call all the teenagers by their designated number got difficult- but thankfully Tamarah knew a lot of their names already.

Now Dmitri and Tamarah wanted to make a second attack on the camp that had foiled their original plan. They had expected the same amount of resistance from that of the one in California- Dmitri expected the camp on Long Island- or Camp Half-Blood, Tamarah called it- had been warned by their peers left behind in the other camp.

Now Dmitri wanted to send all the demi-gods they had captured to attack Camp Half-Blood. He claimed the campers there wouldn't fight against their druz'ya so easily, for fear of hurting one of their own. The brain-washed assets would distract the others and take them down, and then Tamarah and Dmitri would have an army of pre-enhanced teenagers for Hydra.

Nikolai seemed to be one of the only ones who questioned this entire thing. All of these kids could go 'Sergeant Barnes' upon meeting each other, or their 'missions'... It was all so risky. These teenagers were powerful- why do you think Dmitri had wanted to kidnap them in the first place? When they would take all these demi-gods to Long Island in groups of 4-5, to surround the camp... Hydra agents would be outnumbered around 10 to 1- things could go down very quickly.

But Dmitri had used Leo as a test run- and everything seemed to have gone well. Nikolai felt like he should be reassured, but he was not.

They'd only failed to capture one demi-god in their attempts so far- a young guy who was not only a son of the wisdom goddess, but a sort of avenger. Dmitri had gotten excited when Tamarah had mentioned that one- he would call the attention of the likes of Tony Stark, he could be used as bait and experimentation, etc. Plus, Tamarah pointed out, he didn't even know he was a demi-god so they would have an advantage. (How Tamarah knew all of this, only Dmitri seemed to understand.) Hydra had set a bomb in his apartment and sent a tag team in to retrieve him before the bomb went off, and then paid some agents on the inside to keep the whole incident hidden- and the results were near perfect.

Except they hadn't caught the kid. And the tag team had gone up in smoke.

The monitor Nikolai had been closest to attracted his attention. Dmitri and the handler Nikolai had earlier sent for had entered the large room with Asset #15, #8, and- he couldn't remember the girl's number- in it, along with Asset #47.

They were probably giving all 4 of the teenagers their mission now- it had officially begun.

...

"I don't understand." Callie's voice sounded kind of disturbed, as Percy was sort of feeling.

Leo glanced around the room as if making sure no one was watching, and then leaned towards his two fellow soldiers.

"What kind of organization tortures you and wipes your memory after you swear loyalty to it?" Leo's voice was so quiet you could barely see his lips moving.

"What do you mean torture?"

"Starvation. Beatings." Leo's voice was climbing ever so slightly. "Who does that to people who do everything for them?"

Percy shook his head. "It's all necess-"

"It's not. They're hiding something- They all have their memories, don't they? I don't think I ever would have chosen this life if I knew what was really going on."

Callie was looking at Leo like he had a disease- with concern and fear.

Leo turned to the girl opposite him. "When they were punishing me, I let my mind take me to a better place. And it took me to- you."

Callie pushed Leo away. "Weirdo."

Leo ignored her and continued. "And I know I knew you before Hydra. And not just a random encounter."

"Before Hydra?" Percy didn't understand.

"Listen. They've wiped me quite a few times, I know. I don't know how long I've been a part of Hydra but I don't think I've been here forever. I refuse to believe I've been in this hell-hole forever."

"But- how do you kn-"

"GAhh!" Leo's eyes flared as he realized he wasn't making any sense to his peers. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off as the elevator behind them opened again.

This time, no teenager was thrown out and left to brush themselves off the floor. A tall, middle-aged looking man stepped out, along with a girl that looked around 19. She too wore a face of confusion that the three teenagers in the room had sported not long before- actually, they still looked kind of bewildered.

"Soldiers!" Percy, Callie, and Leo all gave full attention to their new company.

"This is Asset 47. You four-" He gestured to each of the kids in black before him- "Are going to be a part of a mission."

Callie muttered in surprise, as did Asset 47. Only Leo stood completely silent.

"You'll receive all necessary adjustments on the trip there, as well as everything you need to know. Step out of line, there will be consequences." The handler stared harshly at each teen.

When everyone said something along the lines of 'yes sir', the man nodded and brought his fist to his chest. "Hail Hydra."

"Hail Hydra!" All 4 of the soldiers said in unison, though one voice's cry sounded much more doubtful than the others.

...

Tamarah walked around the perimeter of the camp as silently and quickly as possible. She was setting small, unnoticeable markers only her co-workers would be looking for, that would tell them where each group should be positioned for the attack.

She'd laid down almost all of the markers now- but she couldn't rush it. She couldn't mess anything up.

She'd been devising this plan for ages, and it was finally coming together.

She'd use the brainwashed demi-gods to capture their friends at Camp Half-Blood. Then she'd use all of those demi-gods to capture the rest of Camp Jupiter.

Then she'd find 7 special half-bloods.

She'd wake them up, give them back their memories.

She'd give everyone their memories back.

And then- this was Tamarah's favorite part- she'd kill each of the seven with her bare hands. It would be very painful, very bloody, and very fun.

And the rest of the demi-god population would watch, hopeless.

Then she'd go kill some more, probably, give the majority to Hydra for their brainwashed army...

She was just smiling thinking about it all. Everything she'd worked for over the past year- it was all coming together.

She was getting her revenge.

Her mother would be avenged- Tamarah's mom had been sent into an eternal sleep because of those wretched prophesy-sought demi-gods, and she was going to make them pay. Make their friends pay.

Make them feel some semblance of the pain and loss those god-born bastards had forced onto her.

Chapter Text

Peter woke up from his nap with a start. Being as exhausted as he was, it seemed improbable that he wasn't sleeping anymore of his own accord, which meant someone had purposefully awakened him or something was wrong.

The top bunk he was lying on creaked incessantly, and he soon found the cause of all the noise. Annabeth was sleeping on the bunk below Peter, but she seemed to be caught in the claws of a horrible nightmare, because she was rolling and shaking on her bed and all of the sheets had been kicked onto the floor.

Peter jumped down from his bunk and put his hand on her shoulder, shaking gently. When that did not wake her, he shook a little harder.

She sat up quickly and nearly hit her head on the top bunk, and started waving a dagger towards Peter he hadn't known she'd had in bed with her. Peter jumped across the room and out of harms way as she opened her eyes and gasped for air.

How the heck did he not see the weapon? Where on earth had she been hiding it?

His friend scared him more and more as the days went on, and he was very glad he was on her side.

After a few long moments, Annabeth's breathing returned to normal and her eyes had cleared, and she dropped her knife onto the bed.

"Nice sleep?" Peter said hesitantly, still kind of afraid to go near her. Annabeth slowly turned her head towards him as if just realizing he was there, before noticing his tense position. Then she noticed her revealed knife and she groaned.

Peter hesitantly came to her side and carefully took her weapon and placed it on a desk nearby. Annabeth watched him, looking exhausted and guilty and embarrassed.

"We should really make you trying to stab me less of a habit," Peter teased.

Annabeth stared at him without a touch of humor. "Indeed."

Slowly, both of the teenagers slipped out of their fatigue and still dreamlike state and were soon both sitting beside each other on Annabeth's bunk. Peter grabbed his phone from a nearby nightstand and looked at the time. It was 2:19 AM. The long day had finally ended, but a knew one had begun.

Annabeth sighed and leaned into her friend a little upon seeing the time. Peter found her action strange but did not comment, for fear she would think him uncomfortable and become embarrassed of the things her tired self was doing.

They had only gotten about 2 and a half ours of sleep, not near enough to wipe away their obvious exhaustion. Nevertheless, Peter and Annabeth would probably not be returning to their respectable bunks for more sleeping.

Peter's spider sense had been dull for the past couple of hours, but he knew what it meant- danger was coming. He didn't know when, but it was soon enough that the sharp pain in his spine would grow just a little bit with each passing minute.

And Annabeth- looked horrified, honestly, and not in the mood for lying back down to rest. Annabeth had told Peter about demi-god nightmares before- they usually predicted the future, or they showed you something that was going on presently. Whatever she had seen had scared her, and Peter had a feeling he would soon find out why.

After a long bit of silence, both of the teenagers took a couple of minutes trying to make themselves look decent before rejoining the camp and the conflicts they were facing. Nobody had came and woke Annabeth and Peter from their sleep, so he was sure the camp was in relatively the same state they had left it upon leaving the Big House.

Sure enough, once the two children of Athena were finished freshening themselves up and acting more alert, they ventured out of the cabin and found that Camp Half-Blood seemed the same as just a few hours earlier. Demi-gods were rushing around, trying to prepare for a possible second attack.

As Peter and Annabeth returned to the Big House, Piper was conversing with Tony.

"So you can make people do whatever you want- men particularly- by, like, flirting with them?"

Piper nodded. "Flirting usually... Being a daughter of Aphrodite-"

"So what if you wanted something from someone old-"

"Like you?"

Tony was opening his mouth to reply but shut it and glared at her. Then he saw Peter and Annabeth closing the door behind them and stood up from his chair, forgetting his ongoing conversation.

Piper stood up too, smirking at the man beside her.

Annabeth looked between the two before her and then cleared her throat, focusing towards Piper. "Where is Chiron?"

"He left a while ago to help investigate with some of the campers. So far we haven't really fou-"

"I had a dream."

Piper startled at the abrupt interruption. "What?"

"A dream. A nightmare. I need to speak to Chiron."

Piper saw the haste in her friend's expression and nodded, before turning and jogging outside. Tony looked at Peter, confused. As Annabeth paced across the room, Tony leaned just slightly downward to Peter's ear.

"What is so important about a dream?" He whispered.

Peter answered quietly. "More often then not, demi-god dreams, especially nightmares, can give a glimpse of what might happen in the future or what currently is happening."

The older man's eyes widened when Peter told him this. "Seriously?"

Peter nodded. "Uh, Mr. Stark-" He hesitated. "Maybe you should go back to the Tower, with Morgan and Mrs. Pepper- it's obvious your knowledge is no longer required and-"

"Nope." Tony interrupted harshly. "I don't care if you are a teenager and you think I'm not cool and you don't want to be seen with me in front of your friends-"

Peter rolled his eyes. "You are taking this dad thing way too far-"

Iron Man continued as if he hadn't heard the interruption. "But I will not be deterred, no, my legs will remained planted on the floors of this sad little shack-"

"Why?"

"Because," Tony started gently, looking down at the boy in front of him, "If there is danger, I want to be here to protect you. Even if you have an entire camp full of hormonal and powerful teenagers behind you, even if you claim you don't need help- I'm staying."

Peter sighed begrudgingly. Who knew Mr. Stark's over-protectiveness would increase ten-fold because I agreed to my adoption?

"Fine."

"You'll be way out of your element," Annabeth stated as she walked between the two men and towards the window. Peter hadn't realized she had heard any of Mr. Stark's and his conversation.

Tony turned to the daughter of Athena, glaring. "You'll be out of your element. Remind me, what power did you have again? What makes you special?"

Mr. Stark's voice was on the teasing side, but Annabeth's voice was dead serious when she answered.

"I'm smart and I make good life decisions."

Tony gaped at this response, but his eyes were alight with amusement. "Ok. Alright."

Annabeth smirked.

Suddenly the door to the Big House flew open, Piper rushing inside and Chiron following at a slower pace, though just as urgent. The room's occupants all turned to the centaur, his face expectant and grave.

He turned to Annabeth. "So I am guessing your dream was not a good one."

Annabeth shook her head. "Most are not."

Chiron sighed and sat down in his magical wheelchair, Piper and then Peter and Tony following suit on the sofa and chairs.

"Well- Let's hear it."

...

Nearly a year- or had it already been a year ago? When Annabeth and the fellow Seven had defeated Gaea, Annabeth had been in an air of finality. It felt as though all of her troubles had ceased along with the Earth goddess. After sending Gaea back to a very long sleep, Annabeth really didn't feel as concerned about going on quests and surviving monster attacks and all-together just being a demi-god as she had been earlier in her life.

Gaea's defeat seemed like the end of a chapter in her life, and then the next chapter was an epilogue- what happens after. It didn't have another conflict to solve, it just consisted of the character's life developments.

Annabeth's epilogue- she went to college in New Rome with Percy Jackson at the earlier age of seventeen, and she excelled in her studies surrounded by friends. She went to New York to work on a project including a prodigy like herself, and ended up becoming close friends with him. And all she had to do was receive back her grade from the summer project and she would graduate with a degree in architectural design.

It was a very decent epilogue.

But- life didn't stop there. A new novel had started, and multiple conflicts were upon the characters, and Annabeth wasn't prepared.

Her problems hadn't ended with Gaea.

Annabeth had been the victim of a dream last night- or this morning, really. It had started at a dark, shadowed base in the midst of snow-covered mountains. The Hydra base was located in a cave so large it had to be at least 3 stories high, and you had to walk into it for half a mile before you could see the front of this hidden base. Their were no windows, just dark cement and a door that was locked tightly. But Annabeth was only a ghost in this setting, a figment, and she floated straight through this thick wall.

Her dream pulled her floating body left and right until she was left in a large room, with many tables and chairs. It took her a moment for her eyes and ears to attune to 3 people on the other side of the room, all dressed in heavy black.

As she drew closer, Annabeth felt sickened. The teenagers that wore these Hydra suits were none other than her friends Leo Valdez and Calypso, and her fiance, Percy.

They seemed to be in conversation. Leo was basically pulling out his hair in agitation as he tried desperately to convince Callie and Percy that something about Hydra wasn't right. He was coming out from under their spell- that was good to know, if there was another attack on Camp Half-Blood and Leo was apart of it, they could maybe save him and keep him from returning to Hydra.

But the cases of Percy and Calypso were less fortunate- they were not at all deterred by anything the Son of Hephaestus was saying but rather had a confused reaction- they didn't understand the point Leo was trying to make and they believed the lies this wicked organization had forced into their minds.

Annabeth watched helplessly as the conversation went absolutely no where, and a large and bulky man entered through an elevator across the room pulling a girl wearing the same outfit as the rest of the occupants behind him.

It was Reyna. Leo, Reyna, Percy and Calypso were here, brainwashed by Hydra, which confirmed Annabeth's earlier suspicions.

This breakthrough didn't leave her relieved, and she somehow had even more questions concerning the matters at hand than she had had earlier.

Why was Hydra collecting demi-gods? How had they found out about our existence in the first place?

Annabeth's ear picked up the world around as the large man in front of her began speaking harshly to her friends. They were going to be a part of an attack. They would receive details of the mission on their journey there.

As the demi-gods were led out of the table-filled room, Annabeth went to follow them hoping to gain information about their mission and future attack.

But her dream was fading out. She cursed whoever was causing this disruption, and as the black faded to white, she expected to find herself in bed in the Athena cabin.

Instead, she found herself in another dream.

~

Annabeth was underground. That, she knew for sure. She was at the edge of a gigantic and spacious underground cave, with walls made of a mix of hard dirt and rock. The top of the cave was littered with the tips of tree roots, which were tangled with what looked like small LED lights.

The setting seemed like something out of a fairy tale.

Annabeth didn't understand why she could breath down here. There were no light shafts in the cave, no hint of any daylight entering any cracks in the ceiling.

Suddenly, Annabeth heard a voice that had haunted her waking hours for many a day during her time on the Argo II. Sweet and lilting, yet raspy and always lined with an aggressive ferocity.

The voice of Gaea could be heard in every corner of the room, as if it was booming from multiple speakers. Annabeth didn't see her dirt face forming on a wall, though, or Gaea's human-like embodiment towering over her. It was only her voice, the same as it had been as long as the wretched woman had been tormenting the demi-god population.

"Come here, little one. It has come time for you to journey into the civilized world."

What? Annabeth turned all around, but she did not see anyone that Gaea might've been speaking to. The cave was empty save a few almost-modern looking pieces of furniture and various rocks and dirt.

Everything was silent for a few minutes, until Gaea's disembodied voice rang out once again.

"Come out, child!" She sounded a little annoyed and impatient.

Once again there was no response, and Annabeth was beginning to think this dream was useless, when her eye caught on movement nearby.

A little girl, no older than 10 or 11, was slowly and hesitantly making her way out from under a table. Her hair was a dark, soil brown, and her skin was pale to the point of translucency. Her eyes were a hazel-ish green, and tear tracks ran down her cheeks.

The little girl's bottom lip quivered as she sat exposed and obviously out of her comfort zone. She looked up at the cave ceiling as if expecting the voice that had lured her from under the furniture to reveal it's embodiment there.

Suddenly, a hole opened up in the cave right above the pale child, a ladder hanging down from it. It lead to the earth's surface, Annabeth was sure.

The girl skittered away from the blinding light and burst into tears, gut wrenching sobs echoing as she sat on the floor.

"What is upsetting you?"

Gaea's voice was somehow gentler than it had been before, though not by much. Annabeth wondered of the relationship between the evil earth goddess and the crying girl.

"I do not want to leave."

When the little girl spoke through her tears it made Annabeth shake involuntarily. Her young voice was shaky and crackly from lack of use, and sounded so small and vulnerable.

Gaea's disembodied voice made a sort of strange tsk-ing noise. "You must."

The little girl started crying impossibly harder, and Gaea's soft rasp was difficult to hear over the painful cries.

"You must leave. You must grow accustomed to the ways of your human world and our enemies, so that when the time of The Prophecy comes you can be of use to me."

Time of the prophecy? Our enemies? Annabeth had more than a few guesses about what Dirt Face could be referring to.

The little girl sniffled and looked down at her hands. "I know, mother."

Wait.

What?

"So you understand why you must leave the safety of this home I have provided? You understand what you can do to help us?"

The little girl nodded firmly as new tears fell down her face. "I do."

"Than why do you speak and act in such misery?"

The little girl clenched and un-clenched her fists, and shut her eyes tightly. "Be- because- how will I talk to you?"

Gaea made a sound that sounded almost like a sigh. "In your dreams."

The child replied with a defeated sigh of her own and slowly lifted her weak body off of the ground, and went over to the hole leading to the surface and grabbed the first rung of the ladder.

"Farewell for now, Tamarah. Do not disappoint me."

With a final look around the cave, Tamarah turned and looked upwards into the light with determination.

"I will not, mother."

~

Annabeth was finding it hard to comprehend what she had just witnessed. The young girl- Tamarah- had called Gaea mother.

As in mom.

But Tamarah looked human, and Gaea was anything but- she was an embodiment of the literal planet. Her children were the likes of hideous giants and such.

Perhaps the child had meant it figuratively? Maybe Gaea was a motherly figure in her life rather than actual blood- maybe she had been raised by the earth goddess.

That somehow made less sense. Gaea, motherly? Gaea, taking in a human child?

The concept was hardly believable.

Annabeth did not have much time to dwell on these thoughts for long; though, because she found herself being thrust into a third dream. Feeling as though her brain might explode from all of this strange and confusing information she was being fed, Annabeth popped into existence in a dark room with computer screens and thick, cement walls.

Three people occupied the room- two were men, wearing the traditional black suits of Hydra (Hydra, again?) and the third was a young woman. She could not have been older than 23 or 24. Her dark hair was braided down her back, and her hazel eyes were filled with malice as she stared unblinkingly at one of the many screens.

It was then Annabeth realized this woman was an older, perhaps present version of the weak, crying girl she had been shown just a moment ago. She was either working for Hydra or being kept hostage by them.

Something seemed eerie about her- the hatred radiating off of her was heavy, and everything about her just seemed angry.

The screen she was staring at showed a scene that Annabeth had been shown in her first dream- three of her friends talking to each other in the large Hydra room. Tamarah obviously had something against at least one of them.

Suddenly one of the men in the room spoke out.

"They're taking Reyna down now. We're about to start."

Tamarah looked away from the computer screen and typed something into another keyboard. "Remind me why we are calling them by their names?"

The man laughed a little under his breath. "We captured so many at the same time we didn't really have the time to give each of them their own nickname."

Tamarah made a tsking sound. "Why don't you call them by their numbers?"

It was the other man's turn to speak. "We find it difficult to remember each and every number connected to each and every prisoner."

"Why don't you burn the numbers into their flesh? You used to do something like that when you worked with... the Nazis, did you not?"

Tamarah's eyes were those of a madwoman's. The men were silent in reply to her outburst, and returned uncomfortably back to their positions in front of computer screens.

It was clear these men were not the torturers and the dirty workers for Hydra, seeing as they became uncomfortable just at the thought of burning flesh.

Annabeth was beginning to partially connect things that were happening- Tamarah obviously had some kind of relationship with Gaea. She obviously didn't like Reyna, Percy, Leo or Calypso judging from how she glared at the screen they were on. Chances were she didn't like demi-gods as a whole- Gaea hadn't. Maybe Tamarah knew about how Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had defeated the Earth goddess and she wanted to avenge the evil woman. It all made sense, unfortunately.

And Tamarah was working with Hydra- quite a horrific organization and one that honestly hadn't been a cause for concern up until a little while ago. Hydra was kidnapping demi-gods...

What could her end plan be? A mass execution? A brain-washed army? There were multiple possibilities.

Annabeth still had questions, but she found herself being pulled from the dream and returning to reality.

...

As Annabeth explained her three dreams and everything that had occurred there- Percy and those missing from Camp Jupiter as well as Leo and Callie confirmed to have been kidnapped by Hydra and used as soldiers against their will, and Leo being suspicious about it- A little girl named Tamarah seeming to have a daughterly bond with Gaea and possibly out to do her bidding- and that same girl now a woman and working with an enemy organization and against demi-gods- Jason, Piper, and Chiron's faces grew more and more grave and weary as they began to connect dots.

Once she had finished sharing, Chiron stood quickly after a few moments of silence.

"We must prepare to retaliate."

Annabeth's eyes grew wide. "From what?"

"The chances are high that Hydra will attack the camp again. Last time they used only Leo, at least as far as we saw. Probably as a test run. It is likely that they will now use our allies from Camp Jupiter as well as Percy and a few others against us, and we must be prepared."

"But Chiron!" Piper's voice was horrified. "We can't fight against our friends!"

Chiron's face was solemn. "Under whatever influence Hydra has placed upon them, the campers taken could very well attack to kill. Any of you. And we cannot just stand still and let this happen."

Cries of protest shouted out from all the young demi-gods present in the room. Chiron ignored them and spoke again, his voice stern and yet sad.

"I believe the archers may have tranquilizing arrows or something of the like that we could use on the innocent. Other than that, all I can say is... if you are sought out, try your best to knock your opponent out rather than killing or wounding them. But if worst comes to worst..."

The centaur did not have to finish. Everyone knew what he was implying.

Peter didn't know any of the demi-gods very well, not even those in the room other than Annabeth- but he could not imagine harming any of them.

He could only imagine the current thought process of Annabeth, Jason and Piper.

It was probably an upsetting and scary one.

...

Leo sat on the edge of a bench bolted to the heli-carrier floor, keeping his eyes on everyone and everything and keeping his mind alert, all the while trying his best to make himself look like the brainless pawn his handlers thought he was.

He wasn't. Not anymore.

He couldn't remember how long he'd been at Hydra, nor how many times he'd been wiped of his memories- if he'd had any missions previous to the one at the camp, if he'd had a life before the organisation- the only thing he knew for sure is that he wasn't supposed to be here. Something wasn't right.

Every time Leo looked at that girl- Callie, she had called herself- something inside him sparked. He had known her before Hydra, surely. In a good way. She meant something to him, something more than just something good in a dream to block out pain.

And that wasn't his only clue to knowing 'I don't belong here-' his last mission, when he had stepped on a twig and alerted a nearby girl of his presence, she had looked at him in awe and recognition. Only for a few small moments, because then the big sleep detonator went off and everything went black. But still.

And Leo recognized the girl too. She seemed vaguely familiar.

So Leo obviously wasn't really a part of Hydra. No way could he have joined them of his own accord. He was being forced, he had to be.

Part of his mind was telling him that all of these wild speculations would get him into serious trouble.

But the other part of his mind was telling him that that part of his mind was under Hydra's control.

Leo knew that all these accusations and these crazy thoughts of being forced into Hydra and escaping and what-not might be false. He might've joined Hydra. Maybe this was all his life had ever been.

He couldn't remember.

But when he had doubts- when he started to think he ought to just complete the mission these handlers were telling him he would have to do and then return to his cell-block, Leo looked at the girl sitting across from him. And then he knew he had to get out of this evil place, and bring her with him.

Before they got to the camp (where the mission was) the handlers were going to wipe Leo and the other Assets present.

Leo was going to fight it. He was going to remember all the dangerous thoughts circulating in his mind and he was going to remember the dream that had involved the beautiful girl sitting across from him.

He had to.

Because when he got to the camp, with sleep detonators and a gun in hand, he was going to use his special power of going through the barrier. He was going to reach out to that blond girl, the one who seemed to have recognized him.

She would help him get his memories back. Maybe she would recognize Callie too, and help her as well.

And Leo would go against Hydra, instead of with it.

Chapter Text

Lol my guys it is 2022 I started this monster over a year ago.

Y'all someone on a different platform asked me if I was dead. :/ No. Yes.

Mostly No. Anyway, thought I'd let y'all know too in the unlikely event someone else asked.

Guys, I am soooorry I literally am my worst enemy and the most annoying person I know. Do you know how many times I've gotten this forsaken laptop out and opened up New and Old and tried to add another chapter, tried to make some edits, try? I never get farther then a single sentence.

And the reason for my failure is: Maggie. Freaking. Steifvater. This woman has ruined my life.

This fic was born entirely from the fanfiction I make up in my head anytime my parents tell me to get off my phone and I am left to stare at a wall or before I go to bed. It all depends on what Fandom Phase I am going through at the moment. For a very long time, all the fanfiction was either Marvel or PJO. 

Until I got introduced to the stupid Raven Cycle. omgosh. Don't read that series guys it will consume your waking days... and your not-waking days.

Now all of the fanfiction born of my mind is Adam Parrish. Adam Parrish. Adam Parrish. If you have read the series you will understand.

This dumb fandom has completely wrecked my life and my pinterest board. I have no inspiration whatsoever because of my stupid Raven boys.

so anyway, loves, I am in a crisis right now. Not dead, in crisis. But I am trying, I promise I am trying to continue this story. I still want to finish it. I've got 3 months of Freshman year left and over the summer I am going to deprive myself of food, sleep, and life until I have finished this for those of you who are still interested. 

~Clara

(p.s I'm not hating on Maggie and you should read the Raven Cycle if you haven't. It is lovely ;) )

Chapter Text

I started this fanfic over a year ago, January of 2021. The last time I updated was August 2021, and now we are reaching the end of April 2022.

I think I’ve known for a while that I was never going to be able to finish this, but a very big part of me just really didn’t want to end in the middle of a sentence. I thought again and again that enough inspiration for this story would resurface inside me and allow me to finish this fic.

That never happened, and I don’t think its going to. So, regretfully and in tears, I am ending this fanfiction without an ending.

I so very much wanted to at least provide one more chapter that tied a few knots, but I just couldn’t bring myself to write something that wasn’t coming from the heart or at least a happy intent. To have written any more of this story would have been more burdensome than anything else.

I’m about to list off some points that I was striving towards writing in the fic, but first, I have a few more things to say.

Guys, I know I am being dramatic. This is literally a fic written on the internet- I have no reason to give a paragraph about my life that absolutely no one wants to read. However, I just wouldn’t be satisfied leaving this story behind without saying a word.

I think the reason I’m so emotional about this is because this was my first writing that I really put out there for people to see. This was the first story I took out of my head and put on paper and then on the internet, God bless. I started this thing before I even entered the world that is highschool- At 14 I thumbed typed the first few chapters of this thing on my phone and posted it on a website I’d only known even existed for about a month. I remember being so unhealthily obsessed with this story, so unhealthily obsessed with Peter Parker and his world of marvel and my beautiful OTP Percy and Annabeth, that I would keep a notebook of stuff I wanted to use in New and Old and write it down in the story when I got home.

Now I’m finishing freshman year, and though I haven’t gotten much older I feel like I’ve changed into a whole new person. Of all the things I’m doing/about to do, completing this fanfiction I no longer have any inspiration for seems to be at the bottom of a very long list of priorities. This summer, I’m learning to play violin. Next school year I’m going into an early-training vet program. I’m writing a book on feminism. I’m applying for a job soon (at a book store, God bless.) In short, writing this fic just doesn’t fit in with all I’m trying to accomplish right now.

Ok, now that that speech is over, here’s the list of stuff I had halfway-planned to happen in this story:

~Tamarah was supposed to be a daughter of Gaea, a demi-god of sorts because her dad was mortal. She was supposed to have this whole origin story about her mom taking human form while she was in sleep mode and marrying some flourist that wasn’t getting enough income from his business, and I think he was supposed to tragically die leaving Tamarah to live underground with her nasty earth mom. Tamarah would have tried to avenge her mom after the 7 had made her go underground again, and thats why she teamed up with Hydra and was trying to get them all under her control so she could use them to kill each other. But in the end I think she was supposed to become friends with the demigods once realizing Gaea was a bad person, specifically with Reyna (they were gonna be besties) and have cool plant powers.

~Leo was supposed to be the first winter-soldier-ish guy that came to his senses, and he was supposed to escape into the came while attacking it a second time. I had written in my drafts that Leo was supposed to lose his arm, too, and get a metal one that could still produce fire, but I don’t know where that would’ve fit in. *shrugs*

~Percy was either going to get it together with a stern talking to from Leo, or he was gonna try and fight Annabeth to the death at some point but then he would recognize her as they were fighting because they are in love. I was gonna write my OTP a wedding and it was gonna be a super cute and fluffy ending to the story. I think either Pepper or Happy or somebody was gonna marry them, and Morgan was going to be the flower girl.

~Annabeth was gonna get offered a job at Stark Industries doing architectual stuff and eventually telling all the avengers the tea about her being a demigod and all that. Tony was gonna become her new father figure and they were all going to be a big happy family

~Did I mention Calypso was going to sing at Percabeth’s wedding

So as you all can see, I thought a lot about the ending and less about how I was going to get there.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Again, I’m sorry for ending this unfinished.

If anyone has their own ending to this and wants to write it, go right on ahead, that would be amazing. No heads up or permission needed.

For everyone that commented, kudoed, bookmarked, subscribed, or just watched from the sidelines, thank you so much. I know this is cringe, but believe it or not, some of those comments got me through some pretty dark times.

85 subsricptions. Y’all are wonderful human beings.

Goodbye for now.

~Clara

Chapter Text

Hi guys? It’s been 2 years since I’ve updated, but I’m working on another fic right now and was reading through y’all’s comments and realized I really should finish this.

So, I’ve decided to continue this story this summer!
My plan is to reread the entire thing and finally finish it. The reception I got for this silly little story when I first posted it in 8th grade was insane. I feel like I left a lot of people hanging and that was a jerk thing to do, and I have a lot of free time on my hands this summer, so I’m going to try my very best to make this old project a completed one.

Warnings before I start: I’m a lot older now. I’m basically a completely different person with an altered writing style. And I haven’t seen a marvel movie or read a Percy Jackson book in over 2 years.
I never even saw Spider Man No Way Home :,)

Nevertheless, I’m going to make this happen. And I hope y’all are as excited as I am nervous 😬

Thank you beautiful people!