Hydra? Like the Monster?

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.