Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy was having an ok-ish day. Multiple monster attacks? Annoying, but used to it. Estelle taking the last blue cookie before he even woke up? Horrible, but she’s his sister, it’s not like he was looking forward to it or anything.

But the thing that turned an ok-ish day into a ‘What the fuck?’ day, was getting expelled from Goode. The incident wasn't even demigod-related, it wasn't completely Percy’s fault. I mean, putting the black-haired demigod into a room full of technology was always going to end horribly. Who could’ve known that the entire right wing of the school was going to blow up? Apparently, the entire school board thought he knew.

Typically, he wouldn’t have minded getting expelled if it wasn’t for Annabeth. They were planning on going to Rome University together but had to get their high school diplomas first. Percy had a game plan: get a degree in oceanography, become a marine biologist, move in with Annabeth, and hopefully not die. The last one, he wasn't so sure about. While the monster attacks had died down after the war with Gaea, it was only temporary. Percy now found that the number of attacks had gone up drastically. He wasn't the only one, the Athena cabin was attempting to determine the cause of the uprise and then potentially find a solution. If the issue wasn't resolved, then campers who had already missed a butt load of school from the previous conflicts might have to seek shelter at Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter.

"Seriously, how in the world," the blonde exclaimed as soon as she found out. "How on earth did you pull that off, Seaweed Brain?"

Those words have been bouncing around in his head because frankly, he doesn’t know how he managed that either.

"It's not like I had some grand plan to get expelled, you know? Technology just has this weird thing against me. It's like it's on a mission to ruin my life," Percy said, taking a moment to reflect. "Oh my Gods— it totally hates me." Even without the whole technology attracting monsters thing, it still managed to cause him problems.

He huffed before collapsing on his couch. His mom, Paul, and Estelle were currently out at the park, there was a fall festival. The park they were at was fairly close to their apartment. As it was Autumn, the leaves on the trees were beginning to turn into beautiful shades of reds and oranges. Percy had been to the festival once when he was small. He remembered the giant pile of leaves a couple of people had volunteered to gather up, it was taller than him. It was explicitly told to the kids not to jump into the pile or else they'd make them rake the leaves back up. Percy never claimed to be good at following rules. He had a running head start before diving into the leaves and then flailing out to the other side. Before he could get scolded by a festival volunteer, Sally grabbed his arm and ran, not turning back as people yelped at the destruction. They were both laughing so hard, it was difficult to make it back to their small apartment. Money wasn't good, but they were happy. A week later, his mom brought Gabe home.

Annabeth sighed. “I have an idea,” She pulled out her ‘Valdez 2000’, a phone that Leo made that monsters wouldn't be able to detect them, and set it on the table in front of her. It threw off demigod scent enough for people to use it without getting attacked. Demigods using a normal phone would be the same as them waving a red flag at a bull, that is, stupid. The phone wasn't revolutionary by any means, monsters could still find them, but it was functional for the time being. Leo was currently working on a newer model which he was going to call the ‘Valdez 3000’. Real Creative. “I know this is probably really stupid and really dangerous-“
“Stupid and dangerous? Sounds right up my alley.”

The blonde demigod shot him a glare before continuing. "But what if I got you into Midtown?" Both of them paused for a second, Percy's eyes wandering her face as Annabeth absentmindedly picked up and shuffled through a deck of cards that was lying about on the coffee table.
Percy was sprawled out on his couch, the blankets and pillows that were supposed to be there were flung off onto the loveseat to the right. Annabeth was leaning forward from her seat on a chair that was meant to be at the dining table. Recently, Paul and Percy decided to buy dark blue couch covers for his mom since it was her birthday. They didn't necessarily match the other paintings and various plants displayed on the coffee table but Sally still wanted to keep the covers.

"Midtown? That would be one Hades of a trek to and from school every day, wise girl," he remarked with a smirk, watching her hands as she pulled a king of hearts from her deck and set it on the table. He bit back a comment about how he was the true "king of her heart". She'd probably beat him with a pillow.

“I’m aware,” Annabeth replaced the deck in her hands with her phone and began to type. “But it's one of the only shots you're going to get. I already have done extensive research on the school and while the curriculum may have some challenges for you, monsters seem to try and avoid it.”

“Well then maybe if the monsters are avoiding it, then I should too.” He stared into her eyes as if trying to get a point across. “I also don't think it's very likely that I'll pass an entry exam-“
“I’m having Leo help us out with that. You don’t have to completely understand everything, I’ll help you. All you have to do is get through the school year without blowing anything up,” The gray-eyed girl blinked before continuing. “Or anyone.”

“And how would Leo manage that?”

Percy should’ve known not to question him because the next day, he was enrolled in Midtown High.

—

Being the new kid isn’t easy. Percy would know after what, 6 or 7 schools? Being the new kid when people knew your bad track record, (including your criminal one) was new to him. Nobody in his other schools knew, but maybe they just didn’t want to bother to find out. In Percy's opinion, blowing up his school bus with a war cannon wasn't entirely his fault. If they didn't want fifth-grade him to do something dumb, then they wouldn't have left the cannon unattended while an elementary school was on a field trip. That whole fiasco was 100% unavoidable if an adult had common sense for once. They never do.

The second the black-haired boy walked in, all eyes were on him in a second. The only thoughts running through his mind were, ‘Do I have something on my face?’, ‘Am I that handsome?’, and ‘Where the Hades is the main office?’

Eventually, after wandering through 1st period, the main office was found. How was he supposed to know it was right in the main hallway where he walked in? Any normal person would’ve walked right by it. Well, not that Percy is normal.

“Oh! Hello sweetie, you must be the new boy,” The woman at the desk smiled at him almost unnaturally. “I have your schedule right here and a lovely tour guide for you!” She gestured to behind the door where a short-ish boy was standing, looking incredibly nervous. After Tartarus, he and Annabeth had been skittish, every little movement would make them jump. Fighting for your life does that to you. All it took was a slight noise or movement in the corner of his eye for him to know something- or rather someone- was there. Percy was surprised he happened to miss him.

He was built, not as built as Percy, but strong. The boy seemingly worked out quite a bit, although he doubted it was for any of the same reasons he did. The mop of brown hair on his head looked untamed- like he hadn’t had time to brush it that morning. The boy’s hoodie had some math pun on it, which in Percy’s opinion, was totally lame. Annabeth would’ve laughed at it.

He extended his hand. "Uh, I'm Peter. Peter Parker," he said, glancing down for a moment. "It's nice to meet you."

To save Peter from further embarrassment, the demigod shook his hand. “I’m Percy.”
Looking back at the front desk lady, he grabbed the schedule she was holding, glancing at it before crumpling it up and putting it in his pocket. She seemed a little disturbed at that but c’mon, what did she want him to do with it? Hold it?

As if.

The woman, whom Percy still didn’t know the name of as he couldn't read the nameplate on her desk, shooed them out of the main office. Probably to get well-needed “me time”. She looked cranky.

“So uh.. have any hobbies?”

The demigod completely forgot Peter was there until he spoke, his words spooking him out of his trance. With all due respect to the smaller boy, Percy wasn’t excited about this tour. This was going to suck. A lot.

"Yup, quite a few."

—

Percy was terrifying.

When Peter found out he was chosen to give a new kid a tour he thought, ‘Oh no big deal, this won’t suck one bit.’ But it does. It sucked a lot. The whole time the kid looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. I mean, he couldn’t blame him. Midtown sucked, and it’s not entirely because of Flash being a dick. The black-haired boy looked like he was about to shove Peter into a locker half of the time. It didn’t help that his phone kept going off with text messages from Mr. Stark.

The duo was planning to work on a project once he got home from school. It’s supposed to be something to go on his spidey suit, a mechanism that allows him to have better control when shooting webs. Peter’s precision is good but could be a lot better. He didn't quite know how this mechanism was going to function, or what it'd look like. Mr. Stark told him to, "Work on his school thang" which probably meant work on graduating while he worked on the blueprints. The older man has seemingly realized how out of touch he was with the younger generations as he'd been trying out new 'lingo'. It hasn't been working out well for him. Peter even saw his browser open a few days ago, the top search being, "how to get young and cool again". Sort of pathetic. There wasn't even any need for Mr. Stark to get all sad about getting old. He was Iron Man. The genius billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist himself. Christ.

*Buzz*

“Dude, are you going to pick up your phone or what?” Percy said, sounding quite annoyed. Well, at least he thinks he’s annoyed. He was frustratingly hard to read. Hell, Peter has had classes with the Black Widow on psychology and how to read people and he was having a hard time.
“Oh uh- yeah,” Peter stammered out. This was embarrassing. “Sorry, it’s just my boss.”
Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Should your boss be texting you that much? Especially when you’re a teenager at school? Creepy.” He paused for a second before glancing at him. “What does the guy want?”
Peter decided not to answer, which probably wasn’t the best idea but he couldn’t think of an excuse. They walked in silence until they reached the end of the hall, which was also the taller boy’s classroom.

“So- this is your class. I’ll uh,” He stopped for a second, trying to recall Percy’s schedule. The thing was so crumpled from what he did in the main office that Peter had trouble reading it when it was right in front of him. “-see you at lunch?”

Percy shoved his hands into his pockets before nodding stiffly. He seemed almost nervous, which Peter definitely understood. Being the new kid probably isn’t easy. Having to abandon your old peers and teachers sounded like a nightmare.

Turning around, the brunet began to walk to his second period. He was definitely going to talk to MJ and Ned about Percy. There was something that seemed so off about him. Something dangerous. It was probably nothing.

—

Percy couldn’t even count on one hand the amount of people who stopped what they were doing to stare at him. It’s almost like nobody knew how to mind their own business. He was a bit confused because there was no way people already figured out his track record, it’s only been two hours since school started. Maybe it was his looks? Percy knew he could be oblivious at times, but people were always telling him how scary he could look. No way could it have anything to do with his level of attractiveness. Sure, he has an incredibly gorgeous girlfriend, but that doesn’t mean he’s stunning too. The black-haired boy didn’t even know how he managed to get a girlfriend when he thought he looked like a sewer rat.

Finally, after what felt like centuries, fourth period was done and lunch was next. Percy was incredibly grateful, his stomach had been growling all last period, and people were starting to give him weird looks. Well, even weirder looks than before. When the boy got to the cafeteria, he came to a wonderful conclusion. He had no friends to sit with.

It was times like these that he wished Annabeth were there. She could save him from the embarrassment of having to depressingly eat by himself. Looking around, there weren’t any empty tables. It seemed like everyone had their tables sorted out already, probably having claimed them last year. He had two options. Either A, sit down at a random table with people and try to not draw attention, or B, hide in the bathroom. As pathetic as it might sound, he was leaning toward option B.

That’s until Percy saw the tour boy from earlier. Patrick? Pretzel? Gods, he was starting to sound like Mr. D.

The boy seemed nice enough. Sure, anxious out of his mind and seeming like he was going to piss himself the entire time, but nice. He didn’t make any comments about the scars that were littering Percy’s face, which he was entirely grateful for. It didn’t seem like a bad idea to go and just sit down with him. He probably wasn’t going to kick him out of the table. Percy wasn't exactly listening to what the boy was saying on the tour but he was pretty sure his closing statement was a sort of invitation to sit with him at lunch.

As Percy walked over, he noticed two more people sitting with him that he wasn’t able to see before. It was a girl and a boy, both seeming to be listening intently to something Patrick-Pretzel was saying. The green-eyed boy wished he had enhanced hearing right about now.

—

When Peter sat down at his and his friend’s unassigned-assigned lunch table, he was practically buzzing. His teachers were nice and nothing incredibly weird happened today. Usually, ever since he became Spider-Man, strange occurrences or incidents have happened while he was in school. So typically he had to ask to use the bathroom and slip out a window to take care of it. The only unusual thing that happened today was Percy, and he wasn’t even that strange. Sure, he seemed dangerous and off in a way, but he probably was just a troublemaker. Peter was sure his friends would like to hear about the new kid either way, typically kids didn't transfer to Midtown unless they moved to the area.

Peter didn't bother to get his lunch. While he did have an incredibly fast metabolism, he'd rather die than eat the school lunch. The pizza looked like it was bubbling and the milk cartons had mold on them for Christ's sake. None of it was appetizing at all and it amazed him how some people ate the food without a second thought as to what they were putting into their mouths. Instead, he pulled out some syllabuses he got and began to read through them. It was baffling how so many teachers had pages of rules that they never even bothered to follow throughout the school year.

Ned plopped down next to him. "Dude, how's your first day been so far?" he asked before diving into his fries. "I swear, I already hate my teachers so much—"

"I wish we had more classes together. I mean, I have more with MJ than you," Peter sighed. "But I do have some stuff to share with both of you once she gets here."

Ned suddenly looked incredibly excited. “Does it have something to do with-” He leaned in a bit and looked around before continuing. “-Your… internship?”

To talk about Spider-man business in school, they had to use a code name. Despite an internship being more believable than the truth, nobody believed he interned at Stark Industries. By nobody, he meant mainly Flash. SI only accepted intern applications from those who have at least graduated high school, Peter has not.

“Hey losers,” MJ said as she sat down across from the duo. “Whatcha talking about?”
“She’s here now man, spill,” Ned said impatiently, pushing his lunch away and instead resting his elbows on the table.

She looked over to the taller boy, “Tell us what?”
Peter sighed, “It’s not that interesting, it’s just some new kid,” He paused for a second before continuing. “His name's Percy- but there’s something off about him. He seems dangerous, and I don’t want to jump to conclusions since I only met him once but my senses usually aren’t wrong. It’s like all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I was walking him to his class. He was completely covered in scars too, not that I’m judging or anything.”

“Oooo- do you think he’s in some evil operation or something?” Ned inputted.

MJ shook her head disapprovingly before saying, “Ned, stop. He’s probably just been through some shit. We really shouldn’t be talking about him.”

“Okay but-“

Peter’s eyes widen before he starts to shush the other boy. “He’s literally walking right towards us right now-“

As Percy walked over, Peter was a bit scared shitless. What if he somehow had super hearing and heard them? What if he's planning on jumping him after school? What if he's planning on jumping him right now? The trio attempted to compose themselves, clearly on edge but it didn't help that the new kid looked pissed. Or maybe that was just his face. Peter didn't feel inclined to find out.

His train of thought was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Peter looked back up to see Percy now standing directly in front of their table looking almost.. nervous. No, that couldn't be right. This kid was terrifying, there would be no reason for him to look nervous in front of Peter and his friends.

“Can I uh- sit with you guys?”

Huh. Not what he was expecting.

Percy shifted from foot to foot, glancing around the room like something was going to jump out of nowhere and attack him. Peter studied his posture and face, trying to determine whether or not he was messing with them.

MJ was the first to break the silence, “Sure. Knock yourself out. Just be warned- these two can go on for hours about their nerd shit.”

Chapter Text

Percy’s expression morphed into one of relief. I mean- if they said no, he'd probably sit down anyway. It's not like they could do anything about it. His nerves were acting up because people hating him on his first day didn't sound appealing. People are bound to hate him at some point though; they usually do.

He plopped down and brought out his lunch, not paying attention to the other occupants of the table. Percy didn't want to bother them too much, no offense to their little gang, but they weren't really his crowd. The tension was so thick, that nobody wanted to say the first word. As he picked up his apple and was about to take a bite out of it, the boy that wasn't Patrick-Pretzel cleared his throat.

"So- your name is Percy right?" The boy didn't seem like a threat in the slightest, just a little awkward and tense. Maybe that's why he was friends with the other boy.

Percy nodded before realizing he should probably say something else, just to make this a little less uncomfortable. "Yeah, what's uh, what's your name?" He winced. Nice one, way to make this conversation less awkward.

"Oh! I'm Ned. Scary girl is MJ-"

The girl, MJ, cut him off with a glare before saying, "But you will be calling me Michelle. No MJ privileges yet dude."

Percy nodded to indicate that he understood, although he truly didn't. It's just a nickname. He'd never bar anyone from calling him Percy- although he would- and has- ban people from calling him Perseus. Nobody called him that unless they planned on having a tasty Demigod for dinner.

Ned continued as if he didn't just get cut off. "-And you've already met Peter here. Boom, introductions out of the way." So that was what the kid's name was- Peter. It wasn't by any means difficult to remember, the green-eyed boy just wasn't paying attention when Peter introduced himself earlier, something he noticed he was doing a lot recently. Well, a lot more than he usually did.

"Cool, cool, it's nice to meet you guys. Uh- I really appreciate you letting me sit here," Percy said, looking directly at Peter. "I would've had to sit by myself or something if you didn't, and that's pretty dam embarrassing." He mentally laughed at himself.

It took Peter a second to realize he was who the boy was talking to, but he recovered quickly. "Yeah- yeah, no problem man!"

MJ suddenly stopped eating her yogurt and pointed her spoon at him, swallowing before opening her mouth to say something. "You were the kid at the St. Louis Arch, weren't you?" She phrased it like a question, but they both knew the answer to that.

"Holy shit- he is!" Ned exclaimed, throwing his arms out and nearly spilling milk everywhere. He would've if Peter hadn't immediately snapped his head over and grabbed the carton before any damage could be done.

Percy eyed the carton warily and opened his mouth to reply. He didn't get a word out before a boy suddenly walked over and leaned on the table. The boy was wearing a burgundy button-up with his sleeves rolled up, and all of him screamed douchebag rich boy. He also happened to have a shit-eating grin on his face, something Percy would've shrugged off if it didn't look so- devious.

"Knock it off, would you? Some of us are trying to eat in peace." The boy said.

MJ looked pissed. Granted, she also looked pissed earlier but he was starting to realize that that might be her normal resting face. Percy, ever the detective, gathered that they didn't like the mystery boy that much.

"Why don't you knock it off Flash." She taunted, emphasizing the name. Hades, if Flash was the kid's actual name, he was going to laugh so hard. How much would you have to hate your kid to name it Flash? Granted, his name was Perseus, but it had a touching story behind it, okay?

Flash's nostrils flared and he stopped leaning on the table, suddenly standing up and crossing his arms. Percy would've laughed at how angry he looked if he wasn't looking directly at him.

"C'mon, you really hanging out with Penis Parker and his weird ass friends?" Ned seemed like he was about to protest, but Peter put his hand on his shoulder as if to say don't, leave it be.

Percy gave Flash a dead stare, there was no way he just called someone a penis unironically. "That's a dumbass nickname man, are we in like- middle school? Cuz' that really sounds like something a middle schooler would call someone who cut in front of them in the lunch line."

Peter's eyes widened as they quickly darted from him to Flash, awaiting the boy's reaction. MJ just snickered, clearly enjoying the show.

Flash's jaw tightened and he stepped forward, getting up into Percy's space. "What the hell did you just say? Do you know who I am?" No, Percy did not in fact know who he was. He just got to this school, of course he wasn't going to know anyone. Not to mention Flash sounded like some Disney antagonist. 'Do you know who I am?' What the Hades? Corny.

In return, he stood up, towering quite a few inches over the knock-off Disney character. "Nah, I don't, and I really don't wanna know. Just screw off and throw your monologues at someone else dude." Percy knew that his height advantage and his scars would make for a scary sight, so he wasn't surprised when Flash finally stood down and began to walk away. He was happy to knock the boy down a peg, he definitely needed the reality check.

Percy sighed before sitting back down and continuing to eat his food. He didn't even notice the way the trio in front of him were totally stunned. Once the boy finally noticed the awkward silence, he slowly looked up.

"Holy shit," Ned said, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. "You just stood up to Flash."

The black-haired boy waved him off. "It wasn't that hard, he wasn't even trying with his insults." Percy paused before continuing. "Is his name really Flash?"

MJ laughed. "Nah, his name's Eugene but everyone calls him Flash. Trust me, he did not get the nickname for being fast." He wanted to ask how he got it, but a vague image was appearing in his mind and he suddenly realized he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Huh, never mind," He chose his next words carefully. "He doesn't seem too fond of you," Percy said, pointedly looking at Peter.

The brunette sighed. "He just uh- thinks I've been lying about some things for a while," He then quickly adds, "Not that I have been, lying that is." The boy was fidgeting, something Percy related to all too well. He decided not to press for details, but he didn't have to anyway as Ned quickly cut in.

"He has an internship at Stark Industries." The boy wore a proud smile on his face, but Peter just looked away sheepishly.

Percy's eyes narrowed. "Stark Industries, like, Tony Stark?" He wasn't too caught up on the mortal world yet but he remembered the Hephaestus cabin throwing his name around a lot. Almost all of them idolized the man, an exception being Nyssa who would shake her head whenever he was mentioned.

"Yeah, I was a... special case." He seemed to be bracing himself for something, but Percy didn't know why.

He shrugged. "Alright, cool." The demigod went back to his food as Peter sat there stunned for what felt like the tenth time that lunch period. "You just- you believe me?"

"Yeah? Should I... not?" To him, working at a billionaire's company is cool and all, but he's still a billionaire. At the end of the day, Tony Stark has so much money that he can afford to feed thousands of families and have money left over. The man gets to live in his ivory tower and various penthouses when there are people out there wondering where their next meal will come from. Not to mention he's Iron Man. While Percy admittingly doesn't know much about the Avengers, or what they do, he is aware of the mixed opinions people have of the members. 'How could these people call themselves heroes when they also cause destruction that causes people to lose their lives?' Ouch.

To be fair, Percy has had his own fair share of destruction, also leading to casualties. He's aware that in the midst of war, people die. That's just how the world works and no amount of "Superheroes" can fix that. It's impossible to save everyone. Percy had to learn that the hard way. Maybe he does understand the Avengers more than he thought.

"Huh. I just wasn't expecting you to believe me."

After that exchange, the group descended into a more comfortable silence. Peter continued to look through his syllabuses while the other three continued to eat their lunches. After a couple more minutes, Percy was already packing his bag when the bell rang. He shot up and quickly walked out of the cafeteria, not because he didn't enjoy their company, but because he was just ready to go home. The whole Flash confrontation took the little joy he had left from the day. The boy had heard Ned trying to say something to him but didn't hear what it was as he was already gone.

Percy made his way to his 6th-period class, English. This was the moment he had been dreading from the second he had walked into the school. He hoped that his issues with ADHD and dyslexia were on his file, otherwise he'd be having a horrible time. Most of the other seniors didn't have to take an English class as they already had their required credits, so it didn't necessarily surprise him when the room was full of juniors.

A few girls were hanging around one of their desks, the group whispering and looking at everyone else. In the back left corner, a group of boys were loudly talking as if they were the only ones in the classroom. The teacher was nowhere to be found so Percy assumed he could just sit wherever he wanted. He chose the back right corner so he had a clear view of the door and could look out the window. Definitely not helping with his ADHD, but it gave him something to look at once his dyslexia started to act up.

He set his backpack down and sat down at the desk. The boy put his hand under the seat for only a split second before touching something sticky. The face that was made was not vogue-worthy.

Eventually, the rest of the class filled in the seats around him. All of them except for the one next to him. Great. Percy assumed that word got around of him being the St. Louis Arch kid, which was something he would've much rather kept a secret. You become a wanted terrorist once and suddenly that's all you're known for? That's dumb.

The teacher walked in and the class became eerily silent. "Hello, class! As most of you may know, my name's Ms. Brewer but you can call me-" She paused mid-sentence and wrote something on the board. "-Ms. B." The woman turned around and gave a warm smile, scanning the room. "I see a lot of familiar faces, but a couple new ones as well," Her gaze landed on Percy and he knew she was just talking about him. "So I'm looking forward to getting to know you all."

As she was about to start class, the door suddenly slammed open. Percy flinched and everybody's head snapped over to see who it was.

Peter.

"Mr. Parker, I'm glad you decided to join us. However, next time I prefer you do it quietly. And before the bell rings." Ms. B said with the same smile on her face.

"Ah- I'm sorry Ms. B, I got a bit caught up. Y'know people crowding the hallways trying to figure out where their next class is." Peter huffed out, clearly embarrassed from all the eyes on him.

"You may sit wherever you like." She replied.

Peter's eyes looked around, trying to find an empty seat before landing on Percy and the one next to him. The boy significantly brightened before he made his way past the rows of desks to get to the seat. As he sat down, Ms. B started to talk.

"I know that you've all probably got around 100 syllabuses today so I'll make this brief." She took a stack of papers off her desk and began to pass them out. "I trust you all to go over the syllabus and give it to me by the end of the week. There's nothing too special on there, at least nothing that you haven't heard already from your other teachers."

She handed out the last paper and made her way back to the whiteboard. "I know it's the first day and you'll all hate me for this, but I do have a mini-project I'd like to assign." The whole class sighed, except for Percy who full-on slammed his face onto his desk.

Here he was thinking this lady seemed nice and boom, project. At least the rest of the teachers had the courtesy to just drone on about their expectations for the school year. First days are meant for painful icebreakers and figuring out who's in your classes, not torturous projects.

"Now, now, this project isn't as bad as you're thinking. You'll be working with somebody else-" Kids started looking at each other and already planning on who they were going to work with. "And I'll be assigning partners." Way to crush dreams.

Percy didn't quite mind having to work with other people. Peter on the other hand did not look happy. Admittingly, Percy glanced over to the other boy when Ms. B announced they were working with partners, hoping that Peter would be fine with working with him. The brunette's leg was jumping up and down, he was fidgeting and kept glancing toward the door. Sure, projects suck but they didn't ever cause Percy to look that nervous. Something else had to be going on. He didn't care though, it wasn't any of his business.

"Alright, first up we have Liz and Cindy..." Percy was looking out the window, waiting for her to call his name when he saw it. A Cyclops. Normally, he would come up with some dumb excuse so he could sneak out and take care of it. This time, he wasn't so sure what to do. Sure, he could leave but then he'd miss the explanation of the project and he really couldn't afford to get in trouble. Then again, the Cyclops didn't seem to be bothering anyone, maybe he could just leave it be? If he saw it attack then he would-

"...And finally Percy and Peter." What? Oh, right the project.

He looked back over at the other boy and saw his eyes widen. They made eye contact so Percy offered a small nod, the brunette then looked relieved. Huh. Weird.

"This is a simple project just so you can get to know your peers and I can get to know you." She then picked up another stack of papers and began to pass them out. "You will be interviewing your partner and getting to know them over the next few weeks. By the end, you'll write an essay," She paused and looked at Percy. "Or make a slideshow about them."

He inwardly sighed, apparently, she actually did bother to read his profile.

"Now, the contents of your project can include anything from their favorite color to their fondest memory. Anything about them is fine as long as you don't say anything negative." Ms. B paused by a group of boys' desks. "And do not, I repeat, do not write your partner's project for them. I will know, I always do." The boys all deflated, apparently that was their plan.

"I'll give these last few minutes of class to you to get started. I do expect you to be able to work on this outside of school but if you have any questions or issues then feel free to talk to me after class." Ms. B sat down and then everyone got up to find their partners.

Since Percy's partner was coincidentally sitting right next to him, he just turned his desk to face him. "So, how do you want to do this?" Percy started, not really knowing what to do.

The paper in front of him would have been helpful if he were able to get past the first paragraph.

Peter nervously wrung his hands as he seemed to be thinking something over. "I uh- if you're cool with it we could go to my internship after school to work on the project?

"Your internship?" Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "Wouldn't you y'know, have to do work there? Won't that be a distraction to everyone else?" He wasn't complaining, he definitely didn't want to bring Peter back to his apartment when other demigods have lately been using it as a sanctuary to go to when they get attacked. It would've been kind of awkward to explain why a bunch of kids kept showing up all scraped and cut up.

"No, no, it's perfectly fine. Mr. Stark lets me hang around even when I'm not working, he won't mind me working with you." The boy says nonchalantly.

This confused the demigod even more. "Wait- you personally know Tony Stark? I thought you just interned in the building. I didn't realize you worked with him." It seemed odd that Peter was a billionaire's personal intern but Percy was no Flash, he believed him.

Peter's face went red as if he just realized what he just said. "Yeah, you can see why not a lot of people believe me." He said sheepishly, once again starting to fidget.

"Cool. Let's just get started." Peter seemed thankful for the topic change as he got out a notebook to start writing stuff down. Percy pulled out his Valdez 2000 and hit record, it was easier this way so he could try and copy down the information when he got home. The younger boy seemed to notice this, but he didn't mention it.

The two got to know each other and Percy found out that Peter's favorite color was red, he was on the school's decathlon team (not that he knew what that was), he was a huge Star Wars nut, and his favorite superhero was Spider-man.

Percy had to agree.

In return, he told him about how his favorite color was blue and how he and his mom always try and make their food blue when the opportunity shows itself. He didn't however tell Peter about the reason why. He's just met the kid, there's no way he was going to expose him to his childhood like that. Percy was talking about his little sister, Estelle, when the bell rang.

"Hey, can I get your phone number so we can talk about the project?" Peter had asked, already packed up and halfway out of his seat.

Percy shrugged. "Sure." He gave Peter his phone number and the boy texted him to confirm his number.

Unknown Number: hey its peter :)

Percy: sup

Peter waved at him as he left the classroom and Percy began to pack his bag up. He was the last one in the classroom so he began to hurry.

"There's no rush hun, I wanted to talk to you about something before you left anyway." Ms. B said.

Percy's head snapped up to look at her. She was sat down at her desk, typing away on her school-issued laptop. Ms. B was a brunette and had curly hair. Her outfit seemed normal for a high-school teacher if not just a tad bit rumpled. Probably from the hassle that is teenagers. He threw his backpack over his shoulder and stood up.

"Uh- yes, ma'am? Is there a problem?" His hand tightened over his backpack strap. There was no way he did anything wrong, it was his first day. He made his way over to her desk, dread filling his entire being.

"No- no. Of course not." She wiped her hands on her pencil skirt before turning in her chair to face him, her legs crossed. "I just wanted to go over some expectations and some things I saw on your file."

Ah. Right.

He nodded to signal her to go on, and suddenly he felt a lot more nervous.

"I noticed it said you have ADHD and dyslexia, is that right?" She asked, not unkindly. He nodded once more. "If you ever need, you can stay after class and I'll give you a rundown of the assignment."

Well, that was surprising. Percy hadn't ever had a teacher offer to help him like that. He was always marked off as the "lost cause", they thought there wasn't any reason to help him, and he'd get expelled before the month even ended. Fair assumption, he usually did, but it still hurt.

Taking his silence as a cue to go on, Ms. B kept talking. "Of course, you can ask Peter if you need any help. The boy's exceptionally smart, and I'm sure he won't mind."

Percy gave her a genuine smile. "Thanks, I mean it. Like- I really appreciate it." She then relaxed, as if relieved he didn't pummel him into the ground for offering to help. "I might just take you up on that Ms. B."

"Of course, I'm glad to help. I'll write you a pass so you can go to your next class without getting written up."

He took the pass and headed to his next class.

The rest of the day flew by incredibly quick. Percy had MJ in his psychology class and Ned was in his gym class. Unfortunately, Peter was only in his English class. It's not that it's a total issue, he just wanted more time to talk to the smaller boy about their project.

The final bell rang and Percy made his way out to the front of the school. His phone buzzed, indicating he had a new message.

Peter: hey im waiting by the right hand side of the building lol

Percy: aye aye captain

He looked up from his phone and turned toward where Peter said he was. Looking through the sea of kids excitedly chatting about their first day, he saw Peter standing near a large tree. Shoving his phone back into his sweatpants pocket, he started walking toward him. Before he even got within 5 feet of him, Peter whipped around. Almost like he sensed Percy walking up. Percy furrowed his brows but brushed it off. He was probably trying to look around and see where he was.

"Hey! Our ride should be here soon." The boy said with a smile. "I uh- just a warning, I did tell Mr. Stark not to be so- flashy." Percy had no clue what that was supposed to mean.

Five seconds later he definitely did know what he meant.

Pulling up to the front of the school was a Gods dam (haha dam) limousine. Clearly, Peter saw his jaw drop as he quickly started to explain.

"Mr. Stark really likes to spend his money." Percy could've sworn he also said something along the lines of, "...And apparently embarrass me."

Peter started walking toward the limo and Percy saw no other choice but to follow him.

Chapter Text

Peter was a bit scared. Although not for the reasons one might think. Sure, Percy might accidentally connect the dots that Peter was Spider-man, but funnily enough, that was the least of his worries. 

The thing is, Percy is cool. The other boy was attractive and from what Peter could see, he was strong too. The scars littering his body and face made him look totally badass, despite them raising quite a bit of concern.

Basically, he didn't want to look like a total fool in front of Percy.

This was a problem considering he knew that Mr. Stark was going to do everything in his power to embarrass Peter. He might even get the other Avengers in on it too, which would be a total nightmare.

Another thing is Percy's criminal record. While he didn't know exactly what the black-haired boy had gotten himself into over the years, he knew for sure that he was the one who blew up the St. Louis Arch. Peter remembered watching the news with Aunt May when it happened. The nationwide manhunt for three twelve-year-olds was all anybody would talk about for weeks. Seriously, why did nobody stop to think, 'Huh, maybe these kids aren't terrorists on a mission to wreak havoc, and instead were kidnapped and were fighting for their lives.'? 

Mr. Stark would be incredibly suspicious of Percy. Man, they'd all be.

All in all, bringing the guy to the tower was a downright terrible idea.

But, he'd get to show Percy around.

There were a lot of cool gadgets (that weren't spider-related) he wanted to show off. Plus, the building was gorgeous. Peter was by no means an architecture nut, but even his breath was taken away when he got a tour for the first time. The new marble designs engraved into the floor in the lobby were beautiful; the patterns being so intricate that every time Peter looked at it, he saw something new.

That is why when Peter led Percy into the backseat of the limo, sure he felt scared but he also felt excited. 

Happy didn't ask any questions about why Peter was bringing someone with him, he assumed that Mr. Stark already told him why. Earlier, he called asking for a ride to the tower. All he mentioned was that it was for a project and that he and his friend needed somewhere to work. The limo was insisted on, despite Peter's desperate protests.

As the two got settled on opposite sides so they were facing each other, an awkward silence settled between them. "I feel like you failed to mention that we were being picked up in a limo," Percy said, clearly out of his element. "Like, it's cool and all, but that felt like a semi-important detail."

Percy looked entirely uncomfortable, which was fair. He looked like he had no idea what to do with his feet, and probably didn't want to track dirt onto the floor of the vehicle. Not that any dirt would matter, the limo was routinely cleaned every couple of days. Even when it hasn't been used in a while.

"Yeah, I'm sorry man. I told you, I did try to say it was unnecessary." Peter replied sheepishly.

"Right." 

Percy was currently staring at the ornate cupholders, he was probably wondering why the hell they were fancy-looking too.

___

There was no reason for there to be fancy cupholders. Everything in the vehicle was a bit strange, there were buttons on nearly every surface that Percy was way too scared to touch. He couldn't even tell which one did what, the symbols on them foreign to him. All he knew was that the second button to the left of his seat tinted the windows. Peter had pressed that one the second they got into the limo, not that it helped. Everyone and their mothers had already seen them get in.

The amount of technology was concerning. Despite Leo experimenting with different devices and perfumes that hid demigod scents, none of them completely blocked monsters from smelling them. The bracelet he was currently wearing was one of those devices. It was made especially for him, there was a trident charm and the beads were alternating different colors of blue. To anyone else, it'd just look like a regular bracelet that you could make with a craft kit. In reality, the trident charm was constantly releasing pheromones that were supposed to signal to monsters that there was danger nearby and to vacate immediately. It helped immensely at school, but Percy didn't know how much it would help him at the tower. Sure, the tower was known as the 'HQ' of the Avengers, but it was also where Stark Industries operated. He'd heard Leo babbling on about the amazing prosthetics and personal devices they were working on making.

Sounds cool, but not something he wants to deal with at the moment. Trying to graduate is already a massive obstacle.

Suddenly, the vehicle stopped.

The driver, whom Peter introduced as 'Happy' (seriously, what is up with these names?), opened the door and let them out. 

They were where Percy assumed was the back of the building, probably didn't want to run into a lot of people. Avengers Tower was massive. That probably sounds obvious, but up close it is kind of intimidating. 

Snapping out of his trance, Percy followed Peter and Happy to the entrance. 

"Alright, we're going to need to get you a guest pass," Peter explained as he used his badge to open the door. "The guest pass allows you to go with me wherever."

They walked in and Peter nodded at Happy, signaling to him that he could leave them alone. As the older man walked away, Percy looked around, taking in the current room they were in.

This specific lobby was probably only meant for those who worked in the building, people were lingering around with different colored badges, presumably signing in.

Percy squinted his eyes at one woman in particular who was carrying a yellow badge. "What do the different colors on the badges mean?" He noticed that almost everyone had blue, some had green, and maybe two had yellow. Peter's was red.

Peter looked over to Percy as he talked. "Different clearance levels. Interns have blue, employees have green, and supervisors have yellow." He said, pointing at various people as he talked.

"Yours is red," Percy replied, gesturing to the boy's badge with raised eyebrows.

Peter turned almost the same shade of red as the badge and Percy was worried for a second that he was about to drop dead. "Ah- yeah. I have maximum level clearance. Comes with the internship. Y'know?" No, Percy did not know.

Percy shifted his weight to his other leg. "Does that mean you can go anywhere in the building?" An image was starting to form in his head.

"Yeah. Anywhere." Peter was realising what Percy was getting at.

"Dude. Be completely honest with me. Do you know the Avengers? Do you work with the Avengers?" 

Peter's silence was enough of an answer.

Percy sighed. "You suck at mentioning important details man." Admittedly he was a tad bit excited at the thought of meeting an Avenger. Not that he idolized them or anything, but they were famous. Like, worldwide famous. 

And Peter worked with them.

"What do you even do for them?" He began. "How did you even meet them?" People were starting to look at them as they stood in the entryway, so Peter began to lead him to the front desk.

"It's a- complicated matter?" Peter said, almost like he didn't quite know the answer to those questions himself. "Why don't we uh- get you your pass and talk later while we're working on the project."

In all honesty, he didn't want to drop it. However, he could tell that the other boy didn't want to talk about it out in the open, so Percy decided to comply.

They approached the desk where an older woman was typing away on a computer that looked like it was worth more than double his rent. She was a blonde, although her roots were dark brown. Her makeup consisted of a lot of browns and reds, most likely because of the fall season. The cardigan she was wearing matched her makeup perfectly. The expression on her face wasn't pleasant, she was most likely bored out of her mind.

"Oh, hello Peter," The woman said, hardly looking up from her typing. "What can I do for you?"

"Hi Sidney," Peter's face looked a tad pink as he addressed her. "Can you print out a guest pass for my friend?" The shorter boy fidgeted with the lanyard attached to his badge, looking very nervous. Percy understood, he got the same way when he saw Annabeth.

"Of course, can I have a name?" Her eyes stayed on the screen however, she did open a new tab.

"Perseus Jackson." She immediately stopped typing and snapped her head toward him. "Do you uh- need help spelling that?" Percy asked.

Sidney's eyes narrowed, and recognition flashed through her eyes. "No, I'll be fine." She started typing, getting his pass set up.

Percy was a bit frightened. Never before in his life had so many people recognized him in one day. He had no clue what was happening at this point, it's not like he goes shouting to the rooftops about his alleged crimes. Alleged crimes. He was proven innocent, so technically there was no reason for people to assume he was some sort of terrorist. Everything happened years ago, there was no way people were still talking about it. Percy doesn't spend much time on social media as he isn't too keen on getting eaten, so maybe people were talking about him.

"Peter, can I talk to you for a second?" Sidney's eyes were still on Percy, something sharp and dangerous behind her gaze. Did she really think he was going to hurt someone? 

"Yeah- yeah sure." Peter turned to Percy expectantly, so the taller boy walked away and sat down at a nearby bench.

The two were speaking in hushed whispers, Sidney frantically gesturing towards Percy. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, this was insanely awkward. 

Eventually, the woman sighed and handed something to Peter as he profusely thanked her and walked over to the bench.

"Here's your badge." He said, throwing it at him.

Percy put the lanyard on, the actual badge being grey with his full name printed on it in large bold writing. Underneath his name was a barcode.

"Thanks, dude," He paused for a second. "Was she talking about me?" Percy knew she was, but wanted to see if Peter would fess up on why.

Peter shrugged and scratched his neck. "Sort of? I guess she saw a video on you? Set off some alarms in her head."

Percy stilled. "A video- what?" That wasn't good.

"Yeah ah- Watcher? Mystery Files? Ever heard of Shane and Ryan? Used to be Buzzfeed Unsolved." Peter shuffled. "They came out with a video on you like- a month ago. It was pretty good." He then quickly added on. "But I'm sure their theories on you weren't correct-"

What the fuck.

"I'm sure." He deadpanned. "I'll watch it with my girlfriend when I get home." That was something he needed to see. They probably didn't get close to the truth but it'd still be funny to see what mortals thought of the whole kidnapping thing.

Relieved, Peter sighed. "Alright, well let's go on up to-" He paused. "The private suite." Oh.

"By that do you mean-" 

He cut him off. "Yeah."

Percy didn't know why Peter was bringing him to a highly confidential area. They had just met that day and there was no way he was being trusted this quickly. Maybe it was the paranoia in him from being betrayed too many times, but he was starting to feel like this whole thing was off.

Sure, Peter was nice. 

But so was Luke at first.

He knows it's horrible to compare the two, he's just being dramatic. 

The voice in the back of Percy's head was saying otherwise.

Snapped out of his stupor by an elevator ding, he stood up. Peter quickly walked into the elevator that was to the right of the bench and held the door for Percy.

"You coming?" 

No way in Hades was he going in there. He was still working on healing some trauma he gained from Tartarus and he wasn't at this step yet. Anytime he simply looked at an elevator he got a crawling sensation under his skin, he wasn't too eager to find out what would happen if he went in. Especially not in front of Peter. Percy wasn't about to relive that.

He took a deep breath. "Are there stairs?"

Peter looked at him like he was insane. "Yeah, but the suites on the top floor," He tilted his head. "You'd be knocked out by the time you got there."

"Right." Percy stared at him. "Where are the stairs."

Peter helplessly gestured toward the corner where an ominous door lay waiting.

"Thanks, man." Percy quickly walked over to the door while Peter let the elevator close, the other people occupying it were getting mad at how long they were taking.

Sucking in a breath, he opened the door and walked in. As it shut behind him, the first thing he noticed was how chilly it was in there. Probably didn't want to waste money setting up a heating system in the stairs, no one was insane enough to use them anyway.

Silently asking himself how his life got to this point, he began his climb up the hundreds of stairs.

___

Contrary to popular belief, Tony wasn't an idiot.

When Peter called asking if he could come to the tower with a classmate to work on a project his first thought was, 'Hell no'. Then as the kid kept talking about how excited he was about it, he knew he couldn't say no. It'd be like kicking a puppy. At first, he thought the classmate that Peter was bringing was his nerdy friend or even that moody girl he hung out with. When he was watching the cams and saw who he brought, he was concerned. The boy had a stony expression on his face, the look of a troublemaker. It didn't help that when he rolled up his sleeves, scars were running up and down his arms. Hell- was that a tattoo on his forearm?

This kid was weird, and it doesn't take a genius like himself to see that.

Then the message came from the woman at the desk.

As he watched Peter go into the elevator and the mystery boy go to the stairs, Friday suddenly started to speak.

"Boss, the secretary at the back entrance has sent you a message. She marked it as important material." The monotone voice said.

He spun around in his chair, turning away from the monitor. He had implemented an office on the floor designated for the Avengers so he could keep an eye on things while working.

"Sum it up for me, Fri." He said, tense as ever as he twirled a pen in between his fingers that was on his desk.

"It seems that Peter's new acquaintance might potentially be dangerous." 

Tony snorted. "I gathered." He sighed before turning back toward his computer. "What's his name?"

"Perseus Jackson." She replied.

He paused. "Perseus Jackson- Fri, where have I heard that name before?" Tony swore that it sounded familiar.

In lieu of a response, the monitor to the right of him lit up. He recognized what was on the screen, a SHIELD file.

In the top left, there was a picture of Perseus. He looked like your stereotypical troublemaker with a crooked smile and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Name: Perseus Achilles Jackson

DOB: 8/18/2006

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Green

Birthplace: Manhattan, New York

All normal stuff at first. His mother's name is Sally Jackson, but his father wasn't listed. The man most likely left once he realized she was pregnant; scummy, but not uncommon. Perseus's current stepfather's name was Paul Blofis, they had just gotten married and now had a baby girl.

Then it gets weird. The kid's last stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, disappeared after, get this, Sally and Perseus got kidnapped. The entire situation was rather unfortunate, Tony remembers seeing it on the news. 

Shortly after his disappearance, Sally released her first and only sculpture, 'The Poker Player'. The statue has an uncanny resemblance to Ugliano, you'd almost think she had just turned him into stone or something.

Scrolling through Perseus's file some more, it's apparent why SHIELD had their eyes on him. Blowing up a school bus, having a shootout on the beach with his kidnapper, blowing up the Goddamn Gateway Arch, none of it particularly screamed good samaritan.

Last year, he went missing for eight months. There were sightings of him and six other kids all over the world, and yet there wasn't any paper trail. He had no idea how they were getting around. Tony can bet SHIELD knew. 

Underneath the main contents was a SHIELD emblem in the color red. This mean that parts of Perseus's file were locked. 

He tried inputting the bypass code, something that was given to him and the other Avengers under the ruse of 'no more secrets'. The code didn't work. Tony would attempt to hack his way in, but this was SHIELD. There's no way he was getting in, at least not without alerting Fury.

Why the hell would a seventeen-year-old have a locked SHIELD file? 

The only other file Tony knew he didn't have access to was somebody who was now on the team.

Bucky.

Fury said it was for privacy; didn't want anybody snooping around Bucky's files, especially when the man had gone through what he did with Hydra. Tony could respect that. The director didn't want people to see the things Hydra had done and try to replicate it, even those he semi-trusted.

All identified current and past Hydra members had the emblem on their files.

Perseus also had it.

The same Perseus that was currently on his way up to the suite.

The same Perseus that was about to hang out with Peter.

He'd be damned if he let his boy hang out with Jackson without protection.

"Fri, call the Avengers. Tell them to get here ASAP."

Chapter Text

The elevator suddenly came to a stop, indicating to Peter that he was at his destination. He couldn't help but wonder what was up with Percy, the other boy looked incredibly spooked when he saw the elevator. Maybe he was claustrophobic? It was fine if he was, hell Peter was terrified of spiders, and he was literally Spider-Man. The brunette knew not to pry but sometimes (most of the time) curiosity got the better of him.

As the door opened and Peter walked out, he was met with an interesting sight. Percy wasn't there yet, of course, since he took the stairs. Instead, Tony was sat on a stool at the common room kitchen island. With Steve. And Natasha. And Bucky.

Tony put down his drink and began to speak. "Hey kid, hope you don't mind the extra company. Everyone else is on their way," The man cleared his throat before continuing. "Thought we'd get some more training in, y'know?"

Peter shuffled from foot to foot. Something was going on that definitely had nothing to do with more training. "Hey, Mr. Stark- Uh- I'm having a classmate over?" He paused. "Not that I don't want to train, but- can it be after?" The boy looked at the other occupants of the room, Steve and Bucky had a steely glint in their eyes as Natasha had her usual carefully schooled expression.

Something was going on for sure.

Something that needed all of the Avengers to be in the tower at once. Peter knew for a fact that Tony knew that Percy was coming over, he wouldn't schedule a training session if he knew a civilian was going to be in the suite. 

Unless...

Unless Peter was  right and Tony was trying to embarrass him.

Oh God.

"Of course, it can wait til after," Tony said, making him snap out of it. "Unless your friend wants to join." 

What.

Tony's eyebrows were raised, and his voice was oddly strained. Almost like he was refraining from saying or doing something he'd regret. The other three in the room were doing nothing to calm Peter's worries, if anything they were making them worse. There's no way he just invited Percy to train with them. Sure, Percy seemed strong and like he could fight, but they were Avengers. People whose sole job is to make the world a better place and kick ass. The taller boy wouldn't last three seconds. 

"Mr. Stark, with all due respect, I don't think that's happening-" He hurriedly said, being cut off by the sound of a door slamming open.

All of the eyes in the room snapped to the door in the corner. Standing there was a very frazzled-looking Percy.

He looked taken aback by the other members in the room but recovered rather quickly. 

"Can I uh- have some water?" He walked more into the room and silently shut the door behind him. "Preferably before I pass out."

______

After what felt like ten years, (though it most likely was 5 minutes) Percy had made it to the last few steps. He went up the stairs to avoid the elevator but at this point, he was more traumatized from the daunting steps that seemed to mock him with every move. The boy huffed his way to the top and all but collapsed into the door that was waiting for him. 

He practically fell through it, thankful to hopefully sit down.

Percy regained his composure and looked up. He was met with a gorgeous sunken living room that had a rather sterile color palette. To his right was a fancy kitchen, one that definitely cost more than Percy's entire life.

Sitting at the kitchen island were Captain America, The Black Widow, Iron Man, and The Winter Soldier.

Pause.

His eyes snapped back over to the island, eyes bulging out of their sockets.

For God's sake Peter, learn how to mention important details. Even a small warning would be nice. Like, 'Oh, hey Percy! Just so you know some of the most badass people on earth will be there while we're working!' could've worked but no, he just had to not say anything.

In all honesty, he had no idea what you were supposed to say to the Avengers, especially when they're looking at him like he killed their families. So he asked for water.

Steve Rogers gave Percy a seemingly genuine smile. "Of course, walking up all those stairs must've taken the wind out of you." The man got up from his seat, took a glass from the cupboard, and started filling up the cup at the fridge.

Peter, who he hadn't even noticed before, sensed the tension in the room and speed-walked over to Percy.

"Dude, you have to be tired." Astute observation. We have a detective over here.

He didn't say that though, no matter how much he wanted to. If Peter was this close with the Avengers to the point where he could hang out with them, then Percy didn't want to find out what would happen if he said anything remotely rude to him.

Instead, the boy settled for a nod as Peter led him to the kitchen island to sit down. He would've rather sat on the couch away from everyone but it would be a tad awkward if they were trying to talk to him from across the room.

Percy sat down across from Bucky, Natasha, and Tony, as Steve placed the cup of water in front of him. The man stood standing and half-leaned on the counter to the right of them. Peter confusedly furrowed his brows and sat down to the left of Percy.

"So- the weather's nice?" He offered, glancing at everyone in hopes someone would take the reins and start an actual conversation.

"It is, isn't it? Great time to go for a trip, I've heard Montauk is very lovely in autumn." Said the Black Widow. Her eyes pierced into Percy, expression seemingly calm and collected. 

So why did he get the feeling she was messing with him? Yes, Montauk is lovely in autumn, it's lovely all year long. None of them could've known about the time he and his mom spent there. Could they? He's been in the building for less than an hour, these people would have to be completely unhinged to dig up something as trivial as a "vacation" spot. Then again, they dress up in weird costumes and save the world, sort of like an unfun costume party. Plus, if they did a background check there's no way anyone would've let him leave the lobby. Or they let him up so they could beat the shit out of him themselves. 

The last one he was starting to doubt as the only person who seemed like they were going to jump him at the moment was Tony Stark. 

And out of everyone in the room, Percy's pretty sure he can take him on.

As he finally took a sip of his water, Peter cleared his throat. "Percy and I have a project to work on, so," he narrowed his eyes at Tony. "Please don't bother us?" 

"We won't. Don't want kids skipping out on schoolwork," Steve said, his eyes also flickering over to Tony. "Right?"

The man sighed. "Right, right. Just- holler if you need anything." He was talking to both him and Peter, but Percy had the feeling that his message was directed just to the other boy.

Peter smiled and nodded at him as he began walking away. Percy spared one last look at the other occupants of the room before following after him.

People may say he's oblivious, but after many years of running for his life, he knows when someone hates him. 

And Tony Stark definitely does.

_____

When Steve got a panicked call from Tony to come to the tower immediately, he assumed there was a dire situation that had the fate of the world at stake. Then Tony told him the real reason. He was admittedly scared at the mention of a potential Hydra soldier hanging out with Peter. Sure, the kid had literal superpowers but he was still a kid. If he got lured into the false sense of security that a stranger gave him, who knows what would've happened if he got caught off guard? Peter had grown on him in the last year or two that he knew him. Hell, the teenager had grown on all of them, even Bucky. That's another thing Steve was worried about. Was the Hydra member here to do something to Bucky? While his best friend was officially deprogrammed and out of Hyda's grasp, maybe they thought they'd be able to get him back. Maybe they  were  able to get him back. That thought particularly scared him.

All those concerns went out the window and got replaced with new ones when Steve saw who Tony was freaking out about. 

A teenager.

Someone who hadn't even graduated high school. 

His stomach dropped when he saw the boy. The scars marring his arms were a scary sight, the look in his eyes even worse. He had the look of someone who'd been through war, something he knew very well. If Hydra was using teenagers to do their dirty work, Steve was going to show up to their bases and blow them all up himself.

The boy, who he'd learned was named Perseus, then opted to take the stairs instead of the elevator. That was confusing in itself, but things got more confusing when he showed up on the top floor five minutes later. It would take a normal person up to an hour to get to their suite, and that's only if they don't somehow pass out. Sure, the kid looked like hell when he arrived, but after he had a sip of water, he acted as if nothing happened. 

The second that the boys left, Steve turned to Tony. "A teenager?" He said. "They're using teenagers?" This was crossing a serious line. Teenagers shouldn't ever be in the line of fire. The Avengers have dealt with a fair share of brainwashed soldiers but it's usually never kids.

"I don't know for sure, but-" Tony's eyes flickered to where Peter and Perseus were just 30 seconds prior. "-It's not looking good." Steve knew that the other man wasn't thrilled to be letting Peter near the kid, but it wouldn't do any good to ostracise Perseus for something that wasn't confirmed.

Bucky exhaled before speaking for the first time that afternoon. "Was his arm branded?" Everyone in the room was silent for a second before Tony said, "A brand? I thought it was a tattoo."

He didn't even notice the mark on his arm, he was trying (and failing) to not stare at his scars.

"It was," Nat said, "But I couldn't make out what it said, all I saw was a trident." She looked confused, almost like she didn't believe she missed such a detail.

"A trident? What do you think that means?" Murmured Steve. The thought of this poor kid getting branded wasn't making him feel any better about this. That was a scar that would never leave, no matter how hard you try to get rid of it.

Natasha stood up. "No clue, I'll look into it. For now, you three need to determine Perseus isn't a threat. Make sure nothing happens to Peter." She began to walk away, presumably to talk to Fury.

Fury. Was he hiding this from them? Did he know? The answer to both of those questions is most likely yes.

Steve looked back over to Bucky. He didn't know how well the other man was taking this, and from the look on his face, it wasn't well. 

He tore his eyes from Bucky and moved over to Tony. "Tony, what have you got on this kid? I want to know what exactly we're getting into here." 

He sighed and stood up. "I'll show you, c'mon Capsicle."

_____

Peter led Percy through all the twisting hallways and stopped by a lab he hoped was empty. Percy seemed very disoriented by all the turns they were making, but the brunette didn't think much of them considering the number of times he's been in the tower. Typically he'd use this lab to finish his work without anyone bothering him, but Mr. Stark barged in all the time. Not that he didn't enjoy his company, he just wanted some peace and quiet to be able to think. Having enhanced hearing makes it ten times easier to get overstimulated, something he learned the hard way. Although, Peter was usually the one talking the other's ear off.

Peter opened the door and gestured for Percy to go in. "We can work in here, but I can't make any promises that no one will bother us." He said, ignoring the way the other seemed to be semi-glaring at him.

The two of them walked in and as Peter began to shut to door, Percy began to speak. "Dude. My man. What the Hades was that?" The older boy looked like a disappointed parent. Not that Peter would know what that looks like. "I mean- the Avengers? Super cool, just not when I'm totally caught off guard. Save it for the meet and greets." Percy looked exasperated as he chose a random table to sit at, dropping his backpack onto the ground next to him.

The room had six tables in it, each having two stools on each side. Peter was glad that he remembered to wipe the whiteboard and put away all the equipment because that would've been an awkward conversation. Yesterday, he was working on enhancements for his suit, something he was relatively proud of.

Peter sat across from Percy and brought out his notebook that he had used earlier for their project. All he had written down were details about Percy's little sister and something about blue food. He wanted to press for the details about that, but if the other didn't bring it up, it was best not to pry.

Peter tilted his head as Percy brought out his phone instead of a notebook. "Are you going to write down stuff on there?" He asked. To him, writing physically on a piece of paper made it easier to focus, but to each their own.

Percy's head snapped up from his phone as he turned it around so Peter could see the screen. On it, he had the voice memo app open. "Nah. If uh- if I'm being honest with you, I just have dyslexia." The green-eyed boy said sheepishly. "I was planning on writing down everything later so it wouldn't take up a lot of time."

Huh. Smart.

Percy relaxed immensely as Peter nodded, he hadn't even noticed that the other boy was tense.

"So, do you want to go first?" Peter asked because, in all honesty, he had no clue what he wanted to talk about. There was no way he was telling Percy about any Spider-Man-related things for obvious reasons. He was going to end up telling the black-haired boy about Aunt May, but he wanted to save it. Talking about dead parents on the first day of knowing each other might be moving a bit fast.

"Sure." 

That was all Percy said before launching into a rant about his girlfriend who "saved his life more times than he could count" and was "probably the smartest person on earth".

Maybe the two of them had more in common than Peter had originally thought.

Chapter Text

They were twenty minutes into interviewing each other when suddenly Percy noticed the other boy tense up. Peter was rambling animatedly about Star Wars when his jaw stiffened, his eyebrows furrowed, and he tilted his head toward the ceiling. The black-haired boy raised his eyebrows. Something was bothering him. There wasn't anything noticeably wrong in the room, Percy couldn't hear or see anything that could've set him off, so he determined it was most likely a personal matter. Maybe he forgot to load the dishwasher and realized he would get murdered when he got home. Or maybe he has homework that he forgot about. Unlikely, since it is the first day of the school year, and no teacher could be that cruel. Except for Ms. B, seeing as she's the reason they're working on this project. That woman will be in Percy's nightmares, no matter how nice she is about his dyslexia or how his classmates perceive her.

Percy cleared his throat as a few seconds passed without Peter moving. "Dude, are you alright?" The brunette's eyes seem to suddenly hyperfocus on Percy's face, before he shakes his head, seeming to have snapped out of it. 

"Yeah, yeah. Just- thought I heard something, y'know?" Peter began to fiddle with his Spider-Man pencil. "It was probably just someone in the hallway."

Percy nodded, accepting the answer despite him not having heard anything at all. His senses were heightened from the constant flight or fight mentality most demigods displayed; he should've heard whatever Peter heard. However, he wasn't going to push about it. Him not hearing something was not impossible, nor was it the end of the world.

(But it very well could be. Not hearing something in a fight could mean one more demigod he'd have to bury. One more family he'd have to break the news to. One more friend that'll never see adulthood.)

"Hey, ever play twenty questions?" Peter suddenly asked. The two were making some progress, but it was getting tiring having to come up with things about themselves that were interesting. That weren't life-threatening secrets. Percy had a lot of those.

Percy propped his chin on his hand and leaned into a more comfortable position. "Can't say I have," he said, leaving out the part where the reason he hasn't is because he never had the time to. Saying, 'Hey guys, seeing as we're going to be stuck on this ship for a while, we should play twenty questions!' while on the Argo as potential death was looming over them seemed a bit dumb. "I know the premise, though."

The other boy clapped his hands together a bit too enthusiastically. "We should do that instead of-" He waved his hands carelessly. "-Whatever this is."

Percy shrugged. It's not like twenty questions would kill him. Unless he was playing it with, like, a pissed-off Typhon or something. Or Zeus. Zeus wouldn't hesitate to smite him if he said an answer that was laced with even the tiniest amount of sarcasm.

He opened his mouth to reply when he suddenly heard a sound. Peter jumped, his head immediately snapping to the ceiling. Percy looked up too, trying to determine where the noise came from when he heard it again. It sounded almost as if someone was-

-in the vents?

He looked back down at Peter, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to tell from the other's expression if this was a regular occurrence or something he should be genuinely concerned about. Judging from the horror on the boy's expression, this was probably normal.

Or maybe it wasn't, and they're about to get murdered.

"Is there- someone in the vents?" Percy asked, wondering if he should get Riptide ready. To mortals, it looks like a baseball bat, so hopefully that would be enough to scare someone off. Although, being asked why he had a baseball bat in his pocket isn't something he'd like to tackle today.

Peter panickedly looked over to Percy before saying, "No- it's- probably a rat problem or something," He looked like he wanted to sink into the floor and disappear, something Percy could relate to on a personal level. "I'll uh- tell Mr. Stark about it."

Huh. That's one big rat.

Then again, they were in New York, big rats weren't uncommon.

Peter stood up abruptly and walked out of the room, leaving Percy with the big rat in the vents and their backpacks. He didn't bother going after the other boy, he'd get lost immediately if he tried to navigate through the labyrinth that was the Avengers tower. He wasn't good with labyrinths.

Instead, he grabbed Peter's cheap discarded pencil and began to fiddle with it. After a bit of fidgeting, he decided he couldn't stay still any longer, his ADHD wouldn't allow it. Percy stood up and glanced around the room. What harm would there be in a little bit of snooping? Ignore the fact that there could be a lot of harm. 

The demigod put down the pencil and started to walk around the room, swinging his arms as he did so. He took note of the haphazardly erased whiteboard, clearly someone was in a hurry. It was most likely Peter; the boy did mention at some point that he was working in here yesterday. Tearing his eyes from the whiteboard, something else caught his eye.

In the corner, a cupboard was semi-closed, and something was sticking out of it.

Something- red.

Percy glanced back to the door, there was no indication of Peter coming back anytime soon. He also spared a glance at the ceiling. There weren't any holes in the vents that he could see, so it was unlikely that the giant rat was watching him.

He crept over to the cupboard and slowly opened it.

Holy Hera.

It was Spider-Man's suit.

Percy inhaled harshly. This could mean one of three options.

1. This means nothing. Spider-Man just left his suit in here for some reason.
2. Peter was working on something for Spider-Man personally, the kid seemed smart, and it was plausible.
3. Peter was Spider-Man.

At first, the third option seemed almost entirely impossible. 

But then Percy got to thinking. Something he only does on occasion.

It would explain Peter's fast reflexes when he caught the milk Ned nearly spilled. It would explain his sensitivity to sound, enhanced senses. The boy seemed scrawny at first glance, but Percy could tell he had a bit of muscle, despite him trying to hide it with a hoodie. Him being close to the Avengers? Duh. He is an Avenger. The internship? It was probably a coverup.

Percy wasn't actually dumb, despite what others believed. He could pick up on the smaller details. (except for when it had to do with romance.)

But this?

This has been blaring so clearly into his face all day as if he was a colorblind bull having a red flag waved at him.

Hesitantly, he reached out to touch the fabric. Picking it up carefully, he noticed something was under it. Looking closer, he realized that it was blueprints. Although he had no clue what they were supposed to be for, he could recognize Peter's messy handwriting labeling certain parts.

If he was Annabeth, he probably would've realized this the second he met the other boy.

Then, something dawned on him.

Peter was an Avenger. The Avengers knew who Percy was now. They probably looked at his files by now. If they decide to look into him more or even worse, interrogate him, who knows what they'd find. While it was tempting to get out of there immediately, that'd most likely set off tons of red flags for them.

But he wasn't about to let his demigod life interfere with his mortal life anymore. He already had so much taken away from him purely because of who his father was, he wasn't going to let the Avengers get in his way of graduating. Without reason, they couldn't do anything to him. All he had to do was act as innocent as possible.

And maybe lead them on a wild goose chase.

After all, he wasn't dubbed Persassy for nothing.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he somehow heard the almost silent footsteps of someone approaching the room. Hastily he put the suit back into the cupboard and ran back to the table.

He was just sitting back down as Peter's head poked through the door.

"Sorry about that man, just ah- was telling Mr. Stark about the rat." Man, Peter was a terrible liar.

As the boy crossed the room to his stool, Percy faced an internal dilemma. Should he try and subtly hint to Peter that he knew his identity? What if he did, but he was horribly wrong? That'd be embarrassing. What if Peter freaked out and tried to murder Percy and dump his body into a dumpster? Alright, maybe that was a little dramatic but still.

Peter sat back down across from him and went to grab his pencil, only to realize it wasn't even there. 

"Oh- sorry." Percy flicked the pencil over to Peter. "I was just usin' it." He said, going back to the position he was in before Peter left.

Peter caught it but not without raising his eyebrows. "You don't have anything to write on in front of you?" It was half a question and half a statement.

Percy looked down at his side of the table to see that there was, in fact, nothing to write on. "Peter, P-man- no, that sounds weird- there are many different uses to a pencil." Way to go, that definitely sounded natural. 

And not at all weird.

Peter ignored being called P-man and shook his head. He looked down at the paper in front of him and began to read over his notes.

"Anyway, twenty questions?"

________

Peter was going to murder somebody, and he means that in an endearing nice way. Clearly, someone was in the vents and he knew exactly who it was.

Clint.

The man probably got a call from Tony telling him to come here so he could embarrass him with the others.

The second Peter walks out of the room, he breaks out into a jog to the kitchen where he last saw the other Avengers. Leaving Percy in there semi-unattended was not a good idea, but he doubted the other boy would pull anything while he was gone. 

Finally, he peered around the corner to see Steve and Clint in the kitchen. Tony, Nat, and Bucky were nowhere in sight.

He was going to barge in but seeing as they were in the midst of a conversation, he decided to stay back. His super hearing was great for eavesdropping.

"I'm telling you, from what I heard, nothing seemed off about the kid," Clint leaned back on the counter, taking a sip from the Hawkeye-themed mug he was holding. "They really were just working on a project." 

Steve sighed and crossed his arms. "There has to be something that we're missing," Whatever they were talking about, Peter wasn't liking it. "This is probably just Tony being Tony, paranoid as always,"

That was something Peter furrowed his eyebrows at. Mr. Stark wasn't- that paranoid. In fact, he was typically very chill about things that weren't chill. Like, at all.

"Should we just- ask Perseus about it?" Clint said, putting down his mug as he began to massage his temples. "We're the  Avengers. I'm sure the kid will tell us what he wants with Peter immediately."

Wait.

Did they think that something was going on between him and Percy?

Now that he thought about it, he might've sounded a bit too excited at the prospect of bringing Percy to the tower while he was on the phone with Mr. Stark. That might've been where this stemmed from, not to mention him dragging Percy off to a private room.

Oh my god.

This was probably the most embarrassing day of his life. 

Look, Percy was attractive, Peter knew that. While he did find himself staring at the other boy's sharp features a little too hard sometimes, he didn't particularly like him like that.

Not as much as he liked a certain someone.

This was a conversation that needed to end before Peter found himself wanting to die more than he does right now.

He waltzed into the room as if he wasn't listening to them a few seconds prior. Their heads snapped over to Peter as they watched him approach. Steve gave Clint a nod and the two turned to face him.

Steve gave him a warm smile before speaking. "Hey Pete, how's your project turning out?" He didn't find it amusing that they were acting so nonchalant.

His eyes stayed focused on Clint. "Were you- in the vents again?" Sure, he was close with these people, but it didn't stop him from admiring them. Peter still got red in the face whenever one of them even did so much as to compliment him.

It wasn't even a question that needed to be answered because they both knew he was.

Clint had the audacity to look a bit sheepish. "We just had a few questions about your friend, Perseus-"

He cut him off. "He prefers Percy." Peter then realized he was doing nothing to dispel their assumptions.

Both of them stared at him for a second before the man continued. "Right. We have some questions about your friend Percy." He said, emphasizing the nickname. "Nothing bad, just wanted to know who exactly is in the tower right now."

"He is a civilian after all." Steve inputted.

Peter sighed as he realized there was virtually no way out of this. The most he could do was to answer their questions to the best of his ability. Resigned, he gave them a small nod.

______

Steve watched as Peter sat down at the kitchen island. He didn't like what was happening one bit. The boy was clearly uncomfortable, and it wouldn't do any good to grill him with questions right off the bat.

The second Clint had arrived, Tony sent him to spy on the teens. It wasn't hard for anyone to figure out which lab they were in, it was the one Peter used all the time. Not good.

The likeliness of Perseus- Percy- stumbling upon something he shouldn't see is too high for his liking. Especially if he was affiliated with Hydra.

Steve decided to start simple. "How did you two meet?" 

"I was his tour guide. He transferred to my school this year." Peter said, nervously fidgeting in his seat.

Percy only transferring this year seemed like a red flag. Typically, people move during freshman or sophomore year to not disrupt their kids' social lives. What if he showed up just to get to Peter? Was this his plan? Or was Steve just being overprotective like Tony?

Steve pursed his lips and thought about his next question. "Do you-" He paused. "Do you know about what he's done?" This was a tricky one. If Peter didn't know, would it be best not to tell him? As much as he hates the idea, they could use Peter to find out more about Percy. The kid not knowing would make it easier for him to act natural, although he'd figure out what was happening rather quickly. Steve's got to give it to him, he's smart.

If Peter did know...

Then why bring Perseus to the tower? To bring him to the attention of the Avengers? This entire ordeal left Steve with more questions than answers, there was a lot more to this than they originally thought.

Peter shrugged. "Well- yeah. Everybody knows about the whole kidnapping-arch-thing," The brunette licked his lips. "Everybody at school figured out who he was by third period. Nothing really gets past them, y'know? Especially the journalism kids-" Steve zoned out as he started to ramble nervously.

Clint, who Steve forgot was there, cleared his throat to get Peter's attention. He stopped his chattering, expression sheepish. "Peter. If you knew then why'd you bring him?"

Peter tilted his head. "Well, he lacked criminal responsibility, right? He was cleared." 

"He blew up a school bus with a cannon."

"Okay? Their fault for bringing a bunch of kids around a real cannon. Of course something was going to go wrong." Peter replied, crossing his arms. 

As true as that might be, he still did it. Not to mention the shark tank. A one-time incident could be excusable, but multiple? It'd have to be one hell of a coincidence that all this happened to one kid by accident. There was something more sinister going on here.

Both Steve and Clint were put off by Peter's sudden attitude, he was never like this. There'd be no reason for him to be this defensive over a boy he had just met earlier that day.

Was Perseus somehow... manipulating him?

Making him think he was a friend?

Steve didn't like jumping to conclusions, but it seemed pretty obvious. All of the pieces lined up. The black-haired teenager could've paid off the teacher to get them to do a project. 

"Getting to know each other" could just be an excuse to get into the tower and make Peter think he's secure.

The two men exchanged worried glances before dismissing Peter.

"I'm going to talk to Stark." Was all Clint said before hurriedly walking off.

They were going to shut Perseus down, no matter what it took.

Chapter Text

After the confrontation with Peter, Clint made his way to Tony's office. Typically, under no circumstance was anyone, sans Pepper, allowed into his workspace. The man claimed that he needed the peace to get work done. In Clint's opinion, this was total bullshit. He had heard AC/DC blasting from the room at three in the morning too many times for that to make sense.

While he never admitted it, Tony was incredibly paranoid. Especially when it came to Peter. His soft spot for the kid was palpable to anyone who opened their eyes. That is why he allowed them to come into his office as long as they had something to report that was relevant to the issue at hand.

The issue being Peter's new "friend", Perseus.

Clint had mixed feelings about the kid, he was just a teenager after all. A teenager with one hell of a criminal record. Most of the contents of said record were excused or didn't have enough evidence to justify the claims being made. Tony had done some digging and discovered several testimonies from eyewitnesses that they saw him commit acts of assault or even attempted murder. Of course, when these claims were looked into, there wasn't any viable evidence against Perseus. There was no proof that these victims existed, not even security footage from streetlights or nearby businesses. In the footage that was recovered, Tony couldn't make out what was happening. Almost like someone had deliberately messed with the cameras to make sure nobody saw. It was suspicious, sure, but wasn't even close to being something that could end up with the kid in at least juvie. 

Tony was deadset on finding out what was up with Perseus, so Clint wasn't surprised when he opened the office door to see the man intensely focused on his monitors. After a few seconds of him not noticing Clint's presence, he decided to lightly knock on the door.

Tony slightly jumped as he snapped his head toward the door. He sighed before he turned back to the monitor on his right and clicked out of one of the many tabs that were decorating his screen.

"Hey," Clint said with a huff. "Steve and I just talked to Pete, thought you'd like to hear."

This got Tony's attention immediately, his head popped up a bit before he turned back. "Spit it out, Legolas."

Rolling his eyes at the nickname, he continued. "We didn't get much out of him that we didn't already know, but to me, it just sounded like they were working on a project for school." Tony opened his mouth to probably say something snarky, but he didn't give him the chance. "I will admit, it was a bit weird how defensive he was over Perseus, but I wouldn't like a bunch of old dudes like us intruding on my personal matters either."

Tony looked a bit offended at the insinuation that he was old before he schooled his expression. "So what I'm hearing is that Pete's getting manipulated by some wannabe super soldier?" His tone was light, although Clint could see the genuine worry behind the man's voice.

"Not so sure about wannabe, we've both seen most of what the kid has done." At least, he was hoping that was the most of it and not just a sliver.

The comment made Tony freeze, and cogs turned in his head before he came to a conclusion. "Perseus is a super soldier, isn't he?" His fingers started to anxiously tap on his desk.

Clint opened his mouth to refute the claim because a super soldier? The whole thing about this kid being a Hydra soldier was already pushing it, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that they had no evidence to say that he wasn't. So yeah, why not just shove that onto the already growing pile of claims?

Tony took his silence as a confirmation that the other man agreed and when Clint snapped out of his thoughts, he was already furiously typing on one of his various keyboards.

He knew that when Tony got into his  zone , then there was no use in trying to hold a conversation with him.

Clint sighed as he walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him as he jogged off the find the others.

_________

As it was nearing five o'clock, Percy knew that if he didn't get home eventually, his mom would think he got kidnapped again. Admittedly, he was having a fun time hanging out with Peter. He was funny, even when he didn't intend to be, and the stories he told of the Avengers left the green-eyed boy doubled over on the floor while he gasped for air like a fish out of water. At some point, his lungs bursting was a genuine concern he had. Captain America sang in the shower? Hilarious. 

Despite him wanting to stay, his mom was making spaghetti, and nothing got in the way of Percy and Sally Jackson's cooking.

When he voiced this to Peter, the other boy snorted and said, "Trust me, I get it." The brunette paused and bit his lip before he nervously continued. "Would you uh- like me to walk you to the stairs?"

Percy blinked a few times at the offer before responding. "Yeah, thanks man. Would've gotten lost immediately if you didn't help me." He didn't know why Peter seemed so nervous about it, it wasn't like he was offering to push Percy off the tower.

Peter softly smiled before getting up and putting away all his schoolwork. The shorter boy struggled with the zipper to his backpack for a solid ten seconds before Percy decided to take pity on him. He walked around to the other side of the table, wordlessly grabbed Peter's hands, and moved them off the backpack.

"Watch how a real pro does it."

He wrestled the zipper and closed Peter's backpack, as the boy stood there looking rather embarrassed. 

Percy did a mini bow as he smiled. "Percy Jackson, God of zippers. At least that's what the ladies call me." He thought for a second before he added, "By ladies, I mean my wonderful girlfriend."

Peter shook his head with a fond smirk on his face before he grabbed his backpack and put it on. "Let me show you the way out, God of zippers." 

Percy shouldered his bag and followed Peter out into the labyrinth of hallways once again. The two made small talk until they reached the main room.

The smaller boy was talking animately about Star Wars when he stopped abruptly, his eyes widening as he took in the sight in front of them. It made Percy almost too scared to look into the room as he was focused intently on the other boy. Slowly, he turned his head to look at the kitchen.

There he saw Captain America, Hawkeye, Bruce Banner AKA The freaking Hulk, The Falcon, and The Winter Soldier. 

All staring at him and Peter.

All staring at him. 

He wasn't aware the Avengers hung out at the tower 24/7, Percy just assumed that they had their own lives and only got together when there was a threat. As far as he was aware, there was no immediate world-ending threat at the moment that needed their attention. 

The Black Widow and Tony Stark were both notably missing, which was probably for the best as Percy would've thrown himself out the window if more of them had been there.

 Peter tightly smiled at the other occupants of the room before addressing them. "I didn't realize you were all gonna be here today, I was just walking Percy to the exit." Slowly, he guided Percy across the room. 

"Of course, it was a last-minute thing. We didn't realize we would be here today either." Steve Rogers said as he dropped a sugar cube into his mug and stirred it into his drink.

As Percy studied their expressions, he saw how off-put half of them looked. The other half had carefully crafted expressions on their faces.

He didn't know which half scared him more.

It's a good thing he accepted Peter's offer, if he had to face them alone then who knows what would've happened.

Although Percy started to suspect that getting him alone was the plan.

Peter ushered him over to the door to the stairs; he didn't spare a single one of them another glance. On the other hand, Percy couldn't tear his eyes away from the Avengers. There was something off about the way they were looking at him. It was not something he would've expected from what he had seen on TV. They typically had softer expressions on their faces when dealing with civilians. Percy assumed it might've been because he was on their home turf, and that they felt uncomfortable letting him into such a private space.

But with how Peter acted around them, he wasn't getting the best vibes. He's had his fair share of asshole adults in his life, he knows what to look for. The Avengers definitely seemed like S-tier assholes.

And if Percy simply being here made them so mad, then he was going to show up every dam day.

He's always had a problem with people in power.

________

Natasha was normally a calm person, at least that's the image she liked to portray. 

The second she walked into Fury's safehouse, she slipped on her mask and approached the topic at hand. What was expected was a reasonable explanation or at least the man's typical vague answer. He rarely gave the full truth to any questions that were asked, instead opting for something more ambiguous.

So when Nat asked about the mysterious Perseus Jackson, she wasn't expecting Fury's dejected sigh and unsurprised look.

He gestured to the seat on the other side of the table. The safe house was small, barely big enough to live in, but small enough to avoid suspicion. The kitchen could fit two people at most, the table and chairs were crammed into the middle of the room.

She pulled out the burnt mahogany chair, bumping into a cupboard as she did so.

It had taken a bit to sniff out where the man was hiding, he sure as hell made his tracks difficult to follow.

Difficult, not impossible.

After talking to a few of Fury's closet confidants, she was able to find him in an apartment in Downtown Manhattan. Clearly, one of them snitched after their talk, as he already had two cups of tea ready.

"Nice to see you too, Romanoff." He pushed a mug to her. "Please, make yourself comfortable." Nick Fury naturally had an air of confidence around him, but at the moment, he looked like he was dreading the impending conversation.

Natasha grabbed the mug but made no move to bring it to her lips. "Spit it out, you know something, don't you?" The man raised his eyebrows at her icy tone, and her mask started to slip.

"As much as I've been so willing to share things with you in the past, Perseus Jackson isn't your concern," He said, although the steely glint in his eyes and the way his fingers tightened ever so slightly around his tea made her think otherwise.

Natasha narrowed her eyes before replying, "So there is something? Jesus, Fury, what happened to no more secrets? He was just in the tower, that makes it my concern," She paused. "That makes it a concern for all of us." 

Admittedly, she was a bit skeptical of Tony's claims at first. He was known for being a bit protective of Peter at times, even if the kid himself didn't realize. Underneath his playboy persona, he was, in all honesty, a mess. Natasha knew better than to feed into it. 

But with the director confirming that something was going on?

Tony wasn't as crazy as she originally thought.

After a few more tense seconds, Fury gave in. "Perseus will not be a threat unless you make him one. I doubt that he'll attempt anything, especially given his current situation." She raised her eyebrows, gesturing for him to go on. "Kid's been given a second chance. He wouldn't waste it so foolishly."

"Second chance? At what?"

"A normal life. Although judging by recent events, that might not be achieved for a while."

Curse Fury and his infuriatingly vague explanations. He didn't seem like he was willing to give up any more information, which left her with more questions than she went in with.

Only one thing got confirmed.

Perseus Jackson was dangerous.

"Thank you," Natasha said while she got up, placing her untouched tea back onto the table and leaving the safe house without another word. 

The air was cold on her skin, and goosebumps formed the second she closed the door behind her. While the visit confirmed the teen was dangerous, she didn't get the impression that he was an immediate threat. If he wanted to hurt someone, he would've done it by now.

That's if he wasn't trying to play the long game. Maybe Perseus wanted to get Peter alone; do something when there wasn't anyone around to stop him. 

It seemed highly unlikely.

Peter could handle his own, and as long as they stayed around the two teenagers for as long as possible, then nothing could happen. Besides, she wanted to help the boy if she could. Natasha knew a thing or two about being raised to be a child soldier, and what Fury said definitely set off a few red flags. If there was another company out there training  children  to fight, then she would do anything in her power to shut it down. She knew how it felt to have your childhood taken away from you, and if he really just was trying to get a second chance, then she'd let him. God knows Natasha would do anything for one.

The last thing Fury said also set off some alarms in her head. What recent events was he talking about? The second she got into the tower, she'd have to ask the others whether or not they'd noticed anything strange that had happened. Although, that was too broad of a topic to get anything valuable.

Something was happening or had already happened, and whether Fury liked it or not, they were going to get involved.

Chapter Text

Percy took a deep breath before he descended the dreaded flights of stairs. Luckily, the way down was a lot easier than the torture that was the ascent.

He practically collapsed into the door when he got to the bottom, which caused it to slam into the lobby wall. Luckily for him, there weren't as many people wandering the first floor as earlier. However, the lady at the front desk was still there and had snapped her head up at the loud interruption. Not interested in making small talk or getting stared at any longer, Percy quickly walked over to the doors, being sure to keep his head down. The last thing he needed was for more people to stare at him today, he already felt far too exposed. 

Granted, there was no conceivable way the Avengers truly knew anything of substance about him, they were only made aware of his existence a couple of hours ago. However, some of them might've known him for longer, given his penchant for making national news. Percy still felt as if they knew too much about him. 

His recent decision to give them hell any chance he could wasn't smart in the slightest. All it took was one wrong remark and he'd end up in jail. Or he'd be dead. Whichever one they'd prefer.

Everything was probably fine anyway, it wasn't like the Avengers would take interest in him. These people were famous, like worldwide famous. Percy Jackson wouldn't even cross their minds after the project was done. 

As the green-eyed boy reached the door, he came to a realization.

He forgot to ask for a ride home.

Percy sighed and brought out his 'phone' to call Paul. His stepfather decided that he was going to go through the effort every morning to get Percy to school, despite him getting expelled from Goode. Surely, he would agree to give him a ride home.

At least he would if Percy's 'Valdez 2000' wasn't dead. Unfortunately, the price demigods had to pay to be able to have a phone was poor battery life. Leo was working on getting the issue remedied, but for now, Percy would have to suffer.

He sighed as he put the device back into his pocket; the black-haired boy resigned himself to the fact that he'd be walking home. 

Luckily for him, it was a nice day out. As he stepped out of the building, he was met with the chilly September breeze. Percy knew where his apartment was relative to the tower, so it wouldn't be such an issue getting home. The demigod also lived fairly close, just north of the Queensboro bridge, so with his advanced stamina he'd be there in no time. 

He'd only been walking for a couple of minutes when he heard the groans coming from inside the alleyway.

Percy paused and glanced into the opening beside him. Strange noises from alleyways were not something to be investigated, especially in New York. He was about to take a step in the opposite direction when he heard the groan again. This time it was accompanied by what sounded like someone crying. 

Now say all you want about him being a horrible person, but Percy really didn't feel like butting his head into someone's personal business. Whether the person in the alleyway needed comfort or saving or whatever, he didn't care. All he wanted was to go home and hang out with his family, maybe even watch The Little Mermaid with Estelle for the tenth time. 

"Hello? Is someone there?" Said whoever was in the opening.

Percy stopped his train of thought and turned around to face the alleyway. It was getting a bit dark, so he could only make out the silhouette of a figure sitting against the brick wall.

The mysterious voice saw him and immediately gasped as he turned to face them. "Please! Please, help me!"

Dam it.

Now he had to help them. He should've walked away when he had the chance; if he walked away now he'd feel really shitty.

Carefully, Percy approached the figure. "Uh- what's up?" He said rather awkwardly.

For a few moments, the person said nothing, so he got a bit closer to see who he was talking to. 

Big mistake.

The person suddenly looked up at him and Percy's blood ran cold. It wasn't a person, it was a Cyclops. 

The same Cyclops he saw outside during English.

He barely had time to register that it must've followed him before the Cyclops stood up, showing off its towering height. In a blink of an eye, Percy was being pushed up against the wall, his feet not touching the ground anymore. 

He knew it was a bad idea to help some weirdo in an alleyway.

"Perseus Jackson," It boomed into his face, its breath so horrible that the demigod nearly threw up on the Cyclops. "We've been looking for you."

"Who's we?" He grunted out, mildly confused. It's not uncommon for monsters to try and kill Percy thinking that he already knew who they were. He's pissed off so many monsters and people within the past year that he can't even begin to deduce who was after him this time. 

The Cyclops tightened its grip on the boy and pinned his arms to his sides. 

"You know who," It growled, despite Percy definitely not knowing who. "It's time to pay for your debts, demigod."

Things would be so much easier if everyone stopped speaking in riddles once in a while and said what they meant.

The monster adjusted its grip on him, opting to take fistfuls of his hoodie instead of pinning his arms to his side.

Big mistake.

Before he could get seriously mauled, Percy reached into his pocket and grabbed Riptide. He popped off the cap to the pen and it turned into a sword, slicing right through the Cyclops. It roared in pain before it doubled over, dropping the black-haired boy in the process.

Percy figured that now he was left with two choices. He could either finish the Cyclops off- or he could run. However, it didn't matter what he chose at the moment because as he turned around, he was met with a slightly disturbing sight.

It was healing itself.

The monster started to glow as its skin stitched itself back together where it was previously wounded. A roar tore through its throat, almost as if the process was painful. After a few seconds, the glowing subsided, and the Cyclops was left looking ten times more pissed than it was before.

Percy, being the genius he is, came to a conclusion.

He should probably run.

As he slowly backed away, the Cyclops began to grin.

"Don't try to run, demigod." 

Sharp claws began to grow out of its meaty hands. Its eye glowed a blinding yellow color while the Cyclops' pupil dilated.

Percy decided not to stick around to see what other grotesque changes occurred.

He spun around and sprinted out of the alleyway, not daring to look back. The sound of the monster's weight on the New York sidewalk sent shivers down the demigod's spine as he twisted and turned down street after street. Behind him, he could hear the yelps of innocent pedestrians being shoved by the Cyclops, and it sounded like it was getting closer.

As Percy glanced at the buildings beside him, he realized he didn't know where he was. During his panic, he must've run in the opposite direction of his apartment. 

The green-eyed boy decided to spare a fleeting glance behind him and saw the monster gaining some serious speed. He didn't have much time left and he needed a plan.

Percy looked back ahead of him and noticed he was coming up on the East River. If Percy could just jump into the water, then he could easily get away. 

Hopefully, the Cyclops didn't have enhanced swimming abilities too.

Feet pounding on the ground, Percy approached the railing. 

Then he felt claws dig into his sides.

The monster roared as it picked him up and the demigod struggled to get out of the ironclad grip. Percy then got a good look at what used to be the Cyclops. Sure, it did somewhat resemble a Cyclops. If the Cyclops was on steroids. The sight was terrifying, its skin was an ugly green color with welts forming on its upper body. The monster grew to be about twice its original size, something that concerned Percy quite a bit.

Not that it'd matter in a few seconds. He was sure he was a goner.

Just when Percy was sure the monster was about to kill him, the Cyclops tilted its head and looked to their right. He hesitantly turned his head to see what it was looking at, only to see absolutely nothing.

Well, not nothing. There was a growing collection of confused bystanders, probably wondering what was happening. Percy had no clue what they saw in front of them but it probably wasn't any better than a teenager being antagonized by a Cyclops.

But he knew the Cyclops wasn't entranced by the audience, monsters hardly ever cared for mortals.

Suddenly, it turned back to Percy and snarled. "You got lucky this time, Perseus."

The sudden screams of the mortals were the last thing he heard before he was thrown over the railing, right into the East River.

__________

As soon as Perseus left, Tony called a meeting. He wanted to see if the others had seen something, if anything at all, that could determine the teenager's plan. Clearly, he had to be up to something, his record and presence practically confirming that. There was just a sliver of a chance that Perseus truly is just a normal teenager with horrible luck. A sliver. He had thought this over very thoroughly, this kid had to have some sort of training. Hydra training.

One by one, the Avengers filed into the meeting room. Everyone had varied expressions, some were unimpressed while others looked apprehensive. 

Eventually, every member was in the room and sat in their regular seats for debriefing.

"Alright, anything new?" Asked Tony, his voice was light and uncaring, but his body language told a whole different story.

After a few tense seconds of silence, Natasha cleared her throat. "I talked to Fury," she said, her tone giving away nothing. "As you could probably guess, he was frustratingly vague." 

Eyebrows were raised all around the table, Tony, however, realized the implications.

"He's familiar with the kid?" He said, jaw grinding. 

It wasn't a good sign, Fury being involved made the situation ten times worse. This meant that Perseus was a threat.  At least enough of a threat to warrant the director of SHIELD to take notice of him.

Natasha sighed before speaking again. "He told me that Perseus is only a threat if we make him one." This got a few nervous glances around the table.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Steve, his grip on the table was getting tighter by the second. Tony knew that Steve was skeptical at first, everybody did, but now the other Avengers seemed to be changing their minds.

"That's not all he said," Natasha stood up from her seat to make herself tower over the rest of the table. "Fury mentioned that he's been given a second chance at a normal life, but recent events have been challenging that."

That was especially worrying to Tony. By recent events, did he mean Perseus being at the tower?  

Clearly, the others were thinking the same thing.

"I'm guessing he didn't mention these recent events," said Clint, slightly annoyed.

Natasha shook her head. "He claimed it wasn't our business." 

Tony's eye twitched. How could Fury say that? If something were to happen, they needed to be prepared. It 100% was their business, seeing as Perseus and Peter would be coming around a lot more to work on their 'project'. If something was supposed to happen, they needed to know.

Sam cleared his throat and everyone turned to him. "Not to be that guy but," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "If Fury didn't want us to know, then it's probably not that big of a deal. You said the kid's getting a second chance, right?"

Natasha nodded.

"Then who are we to mess with that?" 

Tony scoffed at him. "We're the Avengers, in case you haven't noticed."

"Right- so why are we, the Avengers, trying to mess with a teenager who probably has some issues?" Sam said, desperately trying to get Tony to see his point.

"As much as I hate to say it, Perseus might be Hydra-affiliated," said Steve. He leaned forward in his chair, looking very uncomfortable. "It'd be good to keep an eye on him."

Natasha nodded at Steve. "And if possible, we should help him. No teenager should have to go through something like that," she said, her posture was at ease although her voice was strained.

Must've hit close to home.

Sam looked slightly annoyed and was most likely about to say something when Natasha's phone went off. Phones are always on silent when they enter the debriefing room. The only messages that can get through are those labeled as emergencies. The room was quiet as she reached into her pocket, slipping out her device. Her eyebrows furrowed as she read the message.

"What is it?" Tony said impatiently.

She took a deep breath before she looked back up at them. "Several people are claiming to have seen a black-haired, green-eyed boy being chased to the East River before being thrown in by his pursuer."

Tony was confused for a second before he thought about the description of the kid.

Black-haired and green-eyed.

Perseus.