Pandemonium

Thor smiled down at them and gave a broad grin.

He extended his arms and opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped when suddenly Triton appeared from behind him and said, "Why don't we move this conversation outside?"

Percy mentally asked Tri to put up a shield of Mist to cover up the mortals' view of them. Percy could do it himself, but he was saving his energy and powers for the search. With his health being so unreliable he had to conserve every bit of his powers.

Percy noted that Thor was dressed in civilian clothes. A pair of light blue jeans and a red shirt. Triton had probably run interference with his arrival to make sure he didn't jeopardize their cover.

Once they were outside and had relative privacy from the Avengers and the reporters, Thor turned to look at Percy and Apollo.

"Prince Perseus, Prince Apollo, it is indeed an honour to see you again. It appears that marital life is suiting you. You look well."

Apollo took the reigns. "Thank you, Thor. I trust you know why we have pulled you aside?"

"You wish for me to keep your existence a secret from my friends." He stated a little skeptically.

"Not our existence, per se," Percy said, "You just have to make sure that they don't find out we are gods. They shouldn't know about the existence of our pantheon. Also don't mention that you know us. Act like you're only hearing about us for the first time. Can you do that for us, please?"

"I can try, Prince Perseus." Thor still looked conflicted about it. "But I cannot guarantee that they will not find out. They are very smart and highly perceptive."

"I know, Thor. And please, call me Percy."

"You might want to know why he's here." Triton told Percy.

Thor took this as his cue to explain. "We have a demigod missing from Valhalla. Heimdall reported Greek interference in the area from where he disappeared and we also learnt from his friends that he was acquainted with you."

"Magnus." Percy said. They hadn't spoken in years. After what happened to Annabeth, spending time with him had become painful.

"Yes. Ms. Fierro insisted that she wanted to speak to you, but we couldn't grant her permission to do it in an official capacity, so I took the opportunity to schedule a visit to your city. I hope you don't mind."

"No. It's okay. Just make sure the Avengers don't find out about us. You can take their help to find Magnus. We ourselves have a bunch of demigods missing. We also know that one Egyptian magician was kidnapped too. We are sensing a connection and an investigation is underway."

"I'll come with you then." Thor said.

"Uh, it's okay." Apollo told him. "We can travel faster around here if it's just us. You might need to take extra permissions and stuff because you're not from around here and they might see it as trespassing."

"Besides, your friends might want to meet you." Percy added for good measure. He didn't know why Apollo didn't want to bring Thor along, but he was sure there'd be a reasonable explanation for that.

"Right." Triton cut in. "I'll be off now. You," He pointed at Apollo. "Make sure my brother is taken care of. Anything happens to him, I will hold you responsible and you will have to face the consequences."

"Hey!" Percy was incredulous. He was standing right there. He could take care of himself. But both Apollo and Triton gave him sharp looks.

Thor just looked very awkward. Poor guy.

"Thor." Percy addressed him as soon as Triton flashed away. "They would've seen us going out together from the building and they'll ask you what we wanted to talk to you about. What will you tell them?"

"That you just wanted to talk to me before leaving?"

"No. Here's what you're going to tell them."

-

Tony watched as the two of them hurried out of the room. He immediately pulled up the footage of them leaving, because obviously they were trying to avoid the questions. Percy was unwell and Apollo definitely cared for him, but keeping their secrets seemed to take priority over it. Tony wasn't so sure Apollo was good for Percy. Especially now that he had heard that even Percy was married.

He and the rest of the team watched as Apollo and Percy bumped into Thor in the parking lot.

Then suddenly Percy's brother appeared and urged them out of the building. What did they want with Thor? Information? An alien ally? Someone to scare off their enemy? This was getting weirder by the minute.

Within a couple of minutes, Thor had walked into the building again and was using the elevator to come to the Avengers' floor. That in itself was an oddity. Thor never travelled like normal people. Then he reached their floor and Tony saw that he was even wearing civilian clothes! Who was he and what had he done to Thor!? Or maybe the man was just going through a phase of depression.

"Friends!" Thor said, hands outstretched, as he barrelled into the room where the team was. A small smile automatically graced Tony's face. Thor's energy was infectious. No way was he depressed. But then again, depression looked different on each person.

"You doing okay bro?" Clint asked. "You look a little constipated."

"No, Clint, my friend, I do not have excrements, and even if I did they would be perfectly normal, thank you for your concern."

Weird information that he did not need.

"Whatever you say man."

"What did they want with you? The people who spoke to you in the parking lot." Nat asked him.

"Oh! I met Triton as I was entering the building and he said his brother was a huge fan. He said something along the lines of 'my brother has a thing for blondes'?"

Tony's eyebrows rose at that. Percy had never showcased any sort of interest in Thor. And the significant lack of Thor's carefree attitude was a clear indicator that the statement was a lie. Tony wanted to grill him further, Natasha looked determined too, but Steve decided to discontinue that line of questioning.

"What's with the surprise visit?" Steve asked.

Thor visibly relaxed. This man (alien?) was a terrible actor.

"My friend Frey's son has gone missing and Heimdall says that he was taken to Midgard so I'm investigating because I'm more familiar with this realm."

Nat seemed to see an opening to try and bring the conversation back to Percy and she took it. "Lots of missing people all of a sudden. Percy was here asking if we could help him search for some of his missing friends too."

"Pri- Percy's friends are missing?" Thor looked a little alarmed by that. Interesting reaction.

"Yes. Do you know anything about that?" Natasha asked. She was trying her rapid fire interrogation technique to see if she could get him to slip up.

"No. He said there were missing de- people he was investigating but not that they were his friends."

"Do you know his friends?"

"No?"

"Is that a question?"

"No."

"How do you know Percy?"

"I just met him?"

Thor was sweating. He was sweating!

"Why are you lying to us, Thor? I thought we were friends."

Ooh. Emotional manipulation. Natasha was desperate for information.

"Nat-" Bruce tried to intervene, but Nat shot him a look. Steve looked ready to walk out of the room. Clint was standing a little away, biting into a slice of pizza.

Thor seemed to look pained.

"I guess I'll have to tell you." He seemed resigned. "I wasn't the first one of us to come to Midgard."

Everyone's eyebrows rose at that.

"A lot of the Aesir and Vanirs used to come here in secret. They had children with some Midgardians."

Tony was sure his eyebrows reached his hairline at this point.

"One of these was Magnus Chase. He died many decades ago. At the age of 16 I believe. But he died bravely in battle and earned a place in Valhalla." He said that with a dramatic flourish.

"You're quoting Norse mythology at us." Bruce commented. He looked unimpressed. "How is any of this connected to Percy?"

"Magnus Chase, lost his mother at a young age. He cared little for the rest of his family, except for his cousin, Annabeth Chase."

The name rung a bell for Tony. But he couldn't place it.

"She was Percy's girlfriend for many years."

There was pin drop silence for a few moments.

"The girl who was kidnapped with him when he was 12! That's the one!" Clint exclaimed with a mouth full of pizza.

"Was?" Natasha asked.

"She died about ten years ago."

"How?"

"From what I know, it was an accident."

"And how do you know this?"

"Magnus and I are acquaintances. We talk sometimes. That's why I'm here to look for him. I owe him. He found my hammer for me once when I accidentally misplaced it."

"But how does Percy know you? It isn't like Magnus is going to run around telling people that he's going to spend eternity in Valhalla."

"Magnus told Annabeth first when she caught him crashing his own funeral. Percy helped Annabeth arrange the funeral for him. He explained everything to them."

"That doesn't seem enough for him to introduce you to them."

"Magnus asked for Percy's help when he wanted to learn swimming."

"Makes sense." Clint said through another mouthful of pizza.

Natasha didn't look convinced though and something told Tony that that wasn't the whole story either.

"Why don't we stop the interrogation for now and actually start searching for the missing kids!?" Ooh. Steve was pissed. That was their cue to start working.

-

Nico had only just finished analysing the looks of the latest additions to the table when the doors to the room banged open and six people walked in.

More like six creatures waltzed in.

Because Jason sure as hell wasn't alive.