Chapter Text
Percy came to awareness all at once. Opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings, he sees that he is in an alleyway of some kind, with cobblestones beneath him and stone-brick walls on either side.
Glancing down and taking stock of his body, Percy freezes at the sight. Percy is small. He looks like he did before he ever went to Camp Half-Blood.
His first thought is that he offended the goddess of youth, and she cursed him. Thinking back, the last thing he remembers was Piper singing the Earth Mother back to sleep before the goddess cursed him and banished him from her domain.
Percy glances around more carefully and takes stock. Clothing and shoes that are too big for him? Check. Magical pen sword? Check. Scars from two divine wars on a ten-year-old body? Check.
After a moment to ponder his current situation, Percy decides he will be just fine; he lived memoryless on the streets before and has gone on numerous quests.
Barbara Gordon can only stare at the small, scarred child stalking through her library towards the computers. The black-haired, green-eyed child was wearing ruined clothing much too big for him, covered in blood.
The child assassin moves on silent feet in what can only be a stalk while holding a brass pen in one hand. It takes her checking the cameras and seeing the same child on the screen for her to believe this isn't a hallucination.
What was even more alarming was that the child had a white patch of hair, making Barbara wonder what a child assassin is doing being this open.
Barbara watches the child sit at a computer and turns on her spyware program to see what the child is researching, which only leaves her even more confused. The child searched in no particular order: Author Sally Jackson, Mount St Helens eruptions, New York mass gas leaks, and Greek gods before getting up and striding out of her library with a concerned look on his face.
Barbara, for her part, looks at her coffee, wondering again if this was a rather vivid hallucination before saving the security footage for later.
Percy's life is weird. After investigating things, he has found that he's in a different dimension. Mount Saint Helens never erupted, the St. Louis arc was never destroyed, New York never fell asleep mysteriously, and if none of that made it obvious, it's the wrong year.
As for other changes Percy has noticed, well, he is pretty sure Gotham didn't exist in his dimension, and the Olympian gods here aren't considered myth; oh, and that there is no Mist to hide the supernatural.
Percy has had to adjust to people noticing the ten-year-old with a glowing bronze sword and waterbending here, and it's weird. What's even weirder is that the people who can clearly see him and his sword just ignore him or cross the road to avoid him.
After figuring out he was in the wrong dimension and getting home was unlikely due to the whole primordial banishment thing, he figured it was best to look for food and shelter. Naturally, his first thought was the water. Gotham City is a series of islands after all.
The river, harbor, and local ocean, however, are horribly polluted and toxic. This is both a problem and an opportunity. Percy has a mission, something to distract him from the loneliness of his friends' and family's absence.
The first part of Percy's grand plan to fix the water situation is to destroy all of the factories polluting Gotham's waters. Percy, luckily, has power over earthquakes and significantly more control than he did years ago, and now knows how to localize damage.
So each night, Percy goes out and demolishes several factories. This is how Percy met Pamela. Percy is pretty sure she is a nature spirit or a dryad of some kind, and she has been a great help in destroying the centers of pollution.
Apparently, people don’t like it when you destroy their factories in acts of alleged eco-terrorism, so Percy has been avoiding people by staying under the water.
The water might be disgusting, but Percy can still breathe under it, so he has been living out of a nice underwater cave, and when he gets too hungry, Percy swims further out into the Atlantic Ocean for some seafood.
As for his actions of destroying some factories until they improve to meet the current legal standard for environmental sustainability, causing some mortal suffering? Well, Percy took one look at the sick baby seal choking on the toxic pollution and decided that the mortals could suffer.
Pamela explained that most of these factories are allowed to continue to exist only because they predated most modern environmental protection laws, so they don’t have to comply with them; they are, however, insured against rogues, as most buildings in Gotham are.
The second part of Percy's grand plan to fix Gotham’s water situation is to control the toxins and poisons before separating them from the water, then dropping that nasty gunk in front of rich people's mansions. Percy figures that the wealthy should be able to afford proper toxic waste removal.
The third part of Percy's grand plan to fix the water situation is sand dollars. The aquatic Hellenic world uses magical sand dollars that magically purify water, and Percy knows how to make them.
The fourth part of Percy's grand plan to fix the water situation is to take all the junk, cars, and other stuff out of the water and throw it onto the land near the docks area, with human bones he found at the bottom of the bay to make it into a crime scene, forcing the police to treat it all as evidence and properly take out the trash.
Percy's one-man crusade over the past month might not have been very good for his mental health, but it did wonders for the water quality. He has even seen fish approaching the islands as the underwater ecosystem starts to heal.
Jason knew there was some kind of fish spirit or rogue Atlantean cleaning the waters and bay around Gotham. All of the bats knew, however, they weren't really equipped to handle a non-violent underwater problem, and it wasn't that high on their priority list. They already have a whole gallery of homicidal maniacs and end-of-the-world crises to manage.
Jason almost laughed up a lung when a mass of toxic sludge and poison was launched from the Gotham River to the Wayne estate in the middle of the night, triggering all sorts of siege alarms.
It was that incident that finally made Bruce realize that, no, he can’t handle the situation himself. So Batman, for the first time, had to call Aquaman for advice; however, Atlantis is undergoing another crisis.
Jason stares down at the feral assassin child who just killed the Joker. The ten-year-old with a glowing bronze sword in hand looks like prime Wayne adoption bait.
The Joker, for his part, was threatening a few children in the Docks before a child burst from the water, slicing the mad clown in two.
The recently saved children, for their part, are now conveniently hiding behind the probable next Robin.
Jason, for his part, has mixed feelings about this situation. First and foremost is jubilation that the Joker is finally dead. The next is a mix of guilt and rage that a literal child had to be the one to kill the clown, and it wasn't an act of vengeance for his death. And coming in as a strong third is worry for the kid.
The Joker's death is going to be messy, and being the one known for killing the Joker will undoubtedly thrust the kid into the limelight.
Jason, after a good thirty seconds to process, finally decides that Bruce can’t make the new feral murder child into Robin if Jason adopts him first.
Jason waits for the recently saved children to run off and the Wayne adoption bait child to head back for the water before making his move. Swooping down on a grapple and grabbing the kid, who, for their part, tries to bisect Jason with his glowing sword at speeds no human should be moving, only for the sword to pass right through him like the All-Blades.
Jason ignores the attempt on his life and carefully manages to wrangle the squirming child in his arms as he takes in more details now that he's closer—scars everywhere, a white patch of hair, blue-green eyes, a magic sword.
Jason does not like the conclusions he is reaching, all of which point to a child assassin.
Percy is being kidnapped. Percy saw a green-haired man threatening children, so naturally, Percy did what he does best: protect the children from the monster.
Percy is used to monsters disguising themselves as humans to prey on young demigods, and his sword, made of celestial bronze, will not harm mortals. After all, Mortals are not worthy enough to be hurt by Celestial Bronze Weapons.
The Joker, however, through his many acts of evil, had made himself into a worthy monster, worthy enough for Riptide to cut.
After dispatching the clown and sending the children on Their Way, Percy was minding his own business, heading back to the water, when a bulky man in a red helmet rudely grabbed him. Despite introducing his kidnapper to his blade, the man remains in one piece and is unwilling to release Percy despite his squirming.
Deciding to see where this would go, Percy submits himself to this manhandling, taking in what he can of his kidnapper.
Besides the metal helmet that covered his entire head, the man was wearing a heavily armored jacket with a bat symbol, dark jeans, and combat boots. Percy takes special note of all the weapons this man carries, for it must be a man, not a monster, as Riptide did not cut him.
Once the man lands on a roof and sets Percy before him, Percy gets ready to lunge and bite him if this turns out to be a less friendly kidnapping. Percy has been kidnapped many times and knows that sometimes people like his family just grab him to hang out, and at other times people attempt to kidnap someone to force them to hold up the sky so they can obtain a strong general.
“Do you have any living family?”
The menacing man asks Percy once he has him on an isolated rooftop.
“Yes.”
Percy answers shortly, thinking of Poseidon.
“Are you living with them?”
Asks what Percy is beginning to suspect is either a mercenary or a vigilante.
“No.”
Percy answers briefly, thinking about the ancient laws and whether the Poseidon of this universe will even recognize him.
“Are you homeless?”
The strange man asks, with what Percy thinks is worry under his voice modulator.
“No, I have a nice underwater cave to live in.”
Percy explains, attempting to reassure the man who seems concerned.
“Why aren't you with your family?”
The Man probes his voice modulator, not hiding the concern evident in his tone.
“Politics; it's illegal and dangerous.”
Percy answers honestly, having never known the divine world to be safe or free of divine politics and law.
“Do you wanna come live with me?”
The suspicious man asks, causing Percy to stare at him dubiously.
“No.”
Percy replies, not wanting to wander off with a strange man who has kidnapped him.
“I'll give you a room and food?”
The man asks more than he offers.
“What kind of food?”
“My grandfather taught me to cook; I can make almost anything.”
The man in the helmet answers easily.
“Can you make blue food?”
Percy asks, succumbing to weakness and homesickness, earning himself a stare.
“Like blueberries?”
The man asks, confused. Percy considers his situation for a moment: he has already removed the litter from the nearby waters and destroyed the factories, so there is not much more he can do except make more sand dollars, which he can do on land.
“Mom made blue cookies.”
Percy says weekly.
And that was how Jason found himself housing a 12-year-old probable half-Atlantean assassin child as he made him blue cookies.
It’s the next morning that Jason has Percy chowing down on some blue pancakes and finally decides to interrogate the little tyke further. Jason has managed to get the kid Percy to shower, sleep, eat dinner, and sleep in a clean bed.
“So why are you in Gotham?”
Jason asks casually as he takes a bite out of his own blue pancakes.
“I was banished.”
The little feral child answers.
“Banished by whom?”
Jason asks after swallowing his mouthful of pancake.
“Great-grandma didn’t like the cut of my jib.”
Percy replies spitefully as he stabs a pancake with his fork before glancing up to see his host staring at him, causing Percy to continue reluctantly.
“I might have stabbed her.”
Jason, for his part, stares harder.
“She totally had it coming.”
The possible assassin child declares.
Jason is now starting to wonder about Atlantean politics and how eager Aquaman, the king of Atlantis, seems to be to spend time in the surface world.
Jason decides to confirm his guess and asks his next question carefully.
“Are you nobility?”
Percy pauses, thinks about it, and reluctantly nods before adding, “Mom was normal.”
So, an Atlantean noble bastard child with a commoner or surface dweller mother who was used in the political games of assassination before getting banished and deciding to clean the waters of his new home, Jason concludes.
If he's not going to take care of the kids in his kingdom, then King Aquaman doesn't deserve them. Jason is keeping Percy, he decides. He will also keep the little eco-terrorist away from Bruce and his habit of dressing his child soldiers in red Kevlar.
“So where did you get your sword?”
Jason asks as the sword reminds him of his glowing copper all-blades.
“Riptide was a gift from Dad.” Percy nods before continuing, “It only works on monsters.”
Jason, not disputing that the Joker was a monster, continues this delicate conversation in hopes of at least convincing Percy to be more discreet, lest Bruce get any ideas about stopping the child eco-terrorist assassin.
“The Bat might have a problem if you kill people in his city.”
Jason explains delicately.
“Riptide only works on monsters, and monsters hunt children, so if Riptide can harm them, it's not a person.”
Jason remains silent, not wanting to debate personhood being decided by a magic sword with a child, and contemplates Bruce’s reaction to this perfectly reasonable argument created by the inexorable logic of a feral child assassin.
“Can you at least try to be more discreet? We don’t want people getting the wrong ideas.”
Jason tries.
“I'm used to magic hiding stuff, but it's not working here.”
Percy explains, causing Jason to pause as he considers. Atlantis has academies of magic, as magic is public knowledge down there. Jason then ponders if not being underwater is affecting Percy's concealment magic and decides to train the boy in proper discretion.
Jason learned these lessons during his time with the League of Assassins when he was only a few years older than Percy, and the demon brat learned them a lot younger, so it should be okay.
Tim stares as Jason teaches a child how to properly hide bodies and make sure no one is looking during ambushes. Tim stares at the green eyes and white streak in the child's hair. Tim stares at the glowing sword in the child's hand.
Tim, from his hiding place, tries to figure out what is going on as he stalks the odd duo.
Did Jason have a kid? No. Tim has read all of Jason's mission history, and the timeline doesn't match up.
Was Jason cloned? No. No cloning operation would duplicate Jason’s special magic swords, which he refuses to talk about; besides, the kid's sword is distinctly different in both style and material.
Time travel? No, Jason was older when the pit resurrected him.
Alternate dimension Jason Todd? Maybe it's not out of the question for another universe's Jason to get dimensionally displaced. All of the Bats have experience with alternate dimension nonsense, so it's not out of the question for Jason to have found his lost dimensional counterpart and decided to keep him away from Bruce.
Tim silently retreats, deciding to tell Dick and let him deal with it.
Jason has a kid. Dick is losing his mind. His little brother, his little wing, has a kid. Jason has a kid, and he never told anyone.
Dick watches Jason's kid glare at him suspiciously as he approaches, and is reminded of Jason when he first came to the manor.
Dick manages to tear his eyes away from Jason’s kid and turn to his brother.
“This is Dick, my adopted brother.”
Jason tells the kid, making Dick feel warm inside as Jason admits to their siblinghood.
“Little wing! When did you get a kid?”
Officer Nightwing asks, wrapping his brother in a hug.
“This is Percy; he lives with me now.”
Jason declares firmly, not answering the question. The rest of their conversation continues in that vein of Dick asking questions and Jason giving answers that explain nothing. When Dick tried to interact with Percy, Jason redirected any questions directed at the boy before steering the conversation to other topics.
Percy is sitting on the couch in Jason’s apartment as he crafts another Sand dollar. He makes sure to spend at least half an hour a day working on sand dollar production so that he can swim in Gotham waters without wanting to peel his skin off.
It's been a month since Jason kidnapped him and brought him to live with him, and Percy is starting to settle. Sure, he still misses home and his friends, but realistically, what can he do? Divine Curses can only really be broken by an older and more powerful divine artifact or by the caster of the curse themselves.
Thalia was only able to be restored to human form, breaking the curse that turned her into a tree, with the help of an older artifact, the Golden Fleece. Percy was banished by his great-grandma in what he's pretty sure is a divine curse, and unless Chaos itself decides to meddle for the first time in history, he can’t really think of a way. So Percy is stuck here, and he has to start building a new life.
Percy dismisses his thoughts and refocuses on his Sand dollar.
Percy stares at the news feed on the television, showing a clip of Aquaman saving some town or another.
“He's pretty strong for a legacy.”
The little terror says aloud, causing Jason to pause before asking, “What's a legacy?”
Percy turns to stare at him for a moment before giving an impromptu lecture, “A legacy is someone of divine descent, a legacy of a demigod. Like how Wonder Woman is a daughter of the King of the Gods; any children she has will be Legacies who get weaker with each subsequent generation.”
Jason pauses for a moment and applies this new knowledge to what he understands of the information on Atlantean politics he's been able to unearth err undrown? Regardless of the terminology, yes, the ruling bloodline of Atlantis, being descendants of the God of the Seas, makes sense, and this also explains why a clueless surface dweller would be made king.
Aquaman rules through divine right, and if Percy is commenting on the strength of his bloodline, does that mean Percy has a claim to the throne? Did Jason adopt a Prince?
Deciding to risk it, Jason asks carefully, “Do you have a claim to the Throne of Atlantis?”
Percy, for his part, pauses for a second to cock his head before he nods, then diverts his attention back to the television.
Bruce stares at the picture of Jason sitting across a table from a similar-looking boy as they eat ice cream together. The boy has clearly been in the Lazarus pit and shares some superficial traits with Jason; however, Bruce doubts Jay-lad had a sun.
His first impulse is to obtain some DNA and start running tests; however, he doesn't want to do more damage to the relationship he does have with his son. Forcing himself to unclench his jaw and relax, he decides to trust his son and let Jason come to him when he's ready.
Bruce forces himself to turn to his next case, the disappearance of the Joker.
Jason is going to pull his hair out. In less than a year, Percy has been expelled from every school in Gotham.
Jason is at the point where homeschooling Percy with tutors looks like the only option, which would be fine if he weren't trying to socialize Percy with non-vigilante, surface-dwelling humans to make sure his brat has something of a normal life.
Whatever assassin and Atlantean military training Percy received under the sea is only good for forging bonds in battle, which is counter to Jason's goal of giving Percy a safe, happy life.
Jason will admit the kid is lethal with his sword, but that doesn't mean Percy needs to be using it on what he calls monsters, who, according to Percy, deserve to go to hell.
He still remembers when Percy took a chunk out of Crane’s shoulder with his teeth after getting hit with some fear toxin. Apparently, Atlanteans have teeth and jaws made for biting through seal fat and eyes made for darkvision at undersea depths.
Percy also has enhanced stamina, reflexes, aquakinesis, and a water-based healing factor. At least this is what Jason has confirmed.
As for Batman’s no Metas in Gotham rule? Well, Percy isn't a Meta; he's an Atlantean.
The rest of the family still thinks Percy is just a cult child Jason rescued from the League, and Jason is happy to let them believe that until Percy is an adult.
Percy has reluctantly come to like his new home. Sure, he still misses his friends and fellow half-bloods, but he has grown used to Gotham.
Percy has grown to love Jason, his adoptive father/older-brother figure; Pamela, the friendly dryad who always helps him protect the environment; Dick, the uncle who gives lots of hugs; Tim, the stalker; and Damian, who is pretty decent with a sword.
He has also finished cleaning the waters around Gotham, and now people can even swim in them!
Jason had told him in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to be a vigilante and fight to protect people, he had to wait until he was eighteen. Jason, as it turns out, has feelings about child soldiers and child endangerment. While Jason knows he has military history, he never asked for details outside of setting Percy up with a therapist, telling Percy to take his time with his trauma.
Apparently, the therapist specializes in cult deprogramming and childhood trauma, and surprisingly, it really helped him work through some things.
So much has changed in his life since his arrival. He has built a life and actually has people again, people who return his loyalty. His future doesn't look so terrible anymore, and he actually finds himself looking forward to what comes next.