Hydra? Like the Monster?

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.