Pandemonium

Once Nico had gotten over the initial shock of seeing Jason again, he noticed the other people in the group. Khione, Chrysaor, Polybotes, a woman dressed in green and black with antlers on her head and an extremely lean man without a shirt but wearing extremely funny pants.

Everytime any of them enter through the doors, Nico and the other captives gain the ability to speak. The moment the door closes behind them they are rendered mute again.

The same happened right then and he heard startled gasps from Piper and Leo. Rachel seemed resigned to her fate and Meg looked confused. Will looked terrified. Nico wanted nothing more than to comfort him right then.

It was only then that he noticed the reactions from the other two. The blonde guy was looking incredulously at the woman in green and black. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, seemingly unable to frame words to express whatever he wanted to say. Definitely not like Annabeth in that regard.

The other one though, with the bottle green highlights, groaned out loud when she saw the man in the funny pants. "You're supposed to be in prison! Why aren't you in prison? Couldn't you stay there until I died!?"

This one was definitely channeling some teenage Percy energy.

The guy she was speaking to though, seemed to be unimpressed.

Then Jason started speaking, "Silence, Egyptian cretin." His eyes glowed gold and a familiar voice echoed from his throat.

Kronos.

Maybe even he had a thing for blondes.

And blue eyes.

Don't think like Percy, Nico told himself and started concentrating on what mattered.

The girl was Egyptian. Noted.

Kronos was back. And he's using Jason's body. Fuck.

"You have all been brought here to witness the start of a new age. The start of my reign. And because some of you might fail to recognise me, let me introduce myself."

He grinned. It looked foul and deranged on Jason's otherwise peaceful and innocent face.

Nico wanted to gut him and feed his entrails-

"I am Kronos. King of the Titans, and Titan lord of Time."

"Wait a minute." It was Meg, who spoke. She didn't seem to notice the sudden flair of anger on Ja- Kronos's face. "Didn't Percy kill you like years ago? When he was sixteen. Right, Nico?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Wait!" Both of the unknown captives spoke up. They looked at each other suspiciously.

"Percy, as in Percy Jackson?"

"That means you lot are Greek."

"How do you know Jackson?"

"How do YOU know Jackson?"

A loud clap resonated. Jas- Kronos lowered his hands. "Quiet! If another one of you speaks out of turn, those swords on top of your heads are coming down!"

That shit everyone up.

"All of you are here because you know Jackson. And because you know Jackson, surely you're aware that he's an Olympian now?"

Everyone nodded. Nico really did now know what to think about two strangers who apparently knew that Percy was a god. Especially two blondes, with one of them who looked like Annabeth. Surely they weren't his exes or anything?

"Good. Now if you want everyone in this room to stay alive-"

"Uh-"

"You are not permitted to speak, Ms. McCaffrey. And no, surely you know that me and my associates cannot be killed? So, if the lot of you wish to remain alive, you will do as I say, and failure to comply will result in the death of not you, but any other one among the remaining seven. So, unless you want their blood on your hands, prepare to play."

-

Percy and Apollo got into Percy's car and raced out of the building, not cloaking themselves with the Mist and trying to avoid the cameras in order to maintain their cover and not do anything that the Avengers might consider suspicious. Even if it involved letting the international press and paparazzis click pictures of them.

Percy did not like the publicity, but he would do it if it prevented their secret from getting out.

The reason he was so adamant at keeping it was an amalgamation of selfish and general interest.

In the larger scheme of things, he couldn't let the Avengers or by extension SHIELD, have any information about their world that could be used against them to either enlist their help or to threaten them.

Meanwhile, in selfish interest, he wanted normal friends who didn't know he was an Olympian god. He knew that the Avengers were far from normal. But they thought he was a normal guy and that had benefited both him and them in their relationship. Finding out that Percy had been lying to them would not only put to question his trustworthiness but also put a severe strain in their relationship. He didn't want to lose them.

A warm and calloused hand on his arm brought him back to reality.

"Hey." Apollo called to him, voice soft and considerate. "Come back here okay? You might want to tell me where we're going."

Percy flushed in embarrassment. Ofcourse his dumb brain had forgotten to tell Apollo where they were going.

"British Museum."

"Aah. That's why you didn't tell them where we'd be going either."

"Yeah."

They were now speeding into a dark alley in order to flash to the museum unseen.

As they parked in an alley near the museum, Apollo said to him, "You know, Percy. I've never had the pleasure of actually working with you like this before. I've only ever heard tales of what you had done." He looked at Percy, something strange in his eyes, making Percy's heart beat fast in his chest. "With how much you tend to demean yourself I am pleasantly surprised to find that you, Percy Jackson, are one of the smartest people I have ever come across."

Percy, in true Percy fashion, tried to deflect it away from him. "Yeah right, says the father of more than half the world's most famous philosophers and scientists."

Apollo laughed at that. "I know you're trying to deflect, Percy. Accept it, you're insanely smart. That plan you came up with to help with Thor's cover story? Absolutely genius. I don't think Athena could've come up with a scheme that good. That cover story you told the Avengers? The one where it's so close to the truth but we're all just ordinary mortals trying to get by? Again, ingenious. Do I need to go on?"

Percy remained silent. He was never good with receiving compliments.

"My children, those philosophers and scientists you mentioned, they're good with books and formulas. You're a genius at navigating through life and that is the greatest gift anyone can have."

Percy had no idea what to say to that and hoped that his blush was answer enough. His heart was racing at the honesty he sensed in Apollo's words.

They got out of the car and started walking to the museum. By mutual agreement, they decided to age down to their teens in order to mask their identities and blend in with the crowd, simultaneously staying in a form in which they could easily recognise each other.

As soon as they looked at each other, Percy was hit with a sense of nostalgia. He remembered walking around with Apollo in New Rome on the odd occasion that they bumped into each other when he was outside. Those times when Apollo would just materialise beside him when Percy was walking someplace on his own and wouldn't mind some company. They would walk in comfortable silence, and catch up on each other's lives when they felt like talking.

It had continued even after Percy had ascended. But this was the first time in five years that they were hanging out like this and the air felt heavy with the realisation that a lot had changed in that time. A lot could be changed. It was only a question of whether they wanted change.

"For a British Museum it looks very Greek doesn't it?"

"Technically speaking, almost nothing in there is actually British so you should expect the same with the exterior."

"Thieves."

"Let's not start that-"

-

They scouted out the entire Museum.

They found nothing.

No clue.

Apollo had simultaneously combed through all the last known locations of the missing demigods through his multiple consciousness, but they had all yielded similar results.

Percy could see the toll that the day had taken on Apollo. He was covering a lot of ground and hadn't let Percy do anything of his own except the search of the British Museum.

Percy felt a little guilty for making Apollo inform the rest of his team about their missing friends. He had wanted to do it himself and probably should have because he was feeling better. But he was being babysitted and now it just seems like Apollo was feeling burdened by all the responsibility.

He looked tired and worn out. Remembering how sick he had become, and not wanting Apollo to suffer the same way, he decided that they had done enough for the day.

He steered them toward a small coffee shop in an alley near the museum and settled Apollo down onto a table in a corner. It had a modest setting with pale brown shades and coffee quotes framed on the walls. The benches and the tables were wood, providing a feeling of overall comfort.

Percy gave their orders and tried to get Apollo to brighten up a little, both literally and metaphorically. It hurt him, seeing Apollo like this. Usually he was the most energetic in the room. The light in the darkness.

Percy decided that he would bring back the Apollo he once knew.

There was nothing better to get Apollo to open up than talking about someone close to him. Because if there was anything about Apollo that Percy had learnt over the years, it was that although he pretended that the world revolved around him, he was extremely reserved about sharing himself. He would rather talk about anything under the sun than talk about himself. Percy had been one of the exceptions to that rule. He intended to worm his way back into the sun god's heart, and for good measure this time, because this time, there was a possibility.

One that he now dared to consider.

"So.... I heard you're giving Meg piano lessons."

"To be honest, she's terrible at it. But we're gonna keep trying-"

-

Apollo had never enjoyed himself more on a first date. Because that's what he wants to view this as and not because it was agreed upon. He was allowed to hope, he hoped.

They had spoken for hours. Coffee had turned into fries and burgers and slushies.

They had spoken about a range of topics, hardly ever making sense, laughing like their lives depended on it and earning glares and eyerolls from people all around the cafe.

When the waiter informed them that it was closing time, they walked out, smiling softly at each other, feeling better than they had in years.

"We should do this again." Apollo dared to say, hoping that Percy would understand what he meant.

Percy smiled and opened his mouth to answer. However, his expression clouded over, dropping to one of absolute dread.

He seemed to stand and stare into nothing for a few moments, then spoke in a haunted tone.

"Mom just burnt some of her cookies for me. An offering. She does it every time she makes them, do remind me that I'm not alone. They have always been a source of comfort for me. Offerings. I make sure to never block them out." He swallowed. "When that poison entered my body, I thought the sensation felt familiar. Now I realise why. It was an offering to me. The poison."

Apollo felt sick. Nobody. Nobody had ever heard of such a thing happening. offerings were supposed to be sacred. Something to show allegiance and gratitude. To use an offering to poison someone was one among the most sacrilegious of crimes.

"Some irony isn't it? Poisoning the god of poisons. But it wasn't poison alone. I would've sensed it immediately. There was something else. I think the poison was laced into something but it could've been anything. I just- "

He looked so heartbroken, Apollo closed the distance between them and wound their hands together.

"There's been a lot of first time stuff happening after I became a god eh?"

"Yes." Apollo agreed. "A lot of firsts. Most of them, the best things that have happened to us in a long time. You decide to concentrate on the negatives, and that's the only thing I wish you didn't do. Honestly speaking," Apollo lifted Percy's chin with a finger, looking into his eyes as he said, "You're the best thing that has happened to me, to all of us, in a long long time, and I cannot imagine how meaningless my life would've been had I never met you."

The air felt charged. Apollo could feel both of their hearts racing. Percy's eyes seemed to flit around his face, coming to rest on his lips and Apollo moved forward only to be interrupted by the loud proclamation of a nearby television.

"-Piper McLean is seen confessing to being a part of a satanic cult that has apparently committed numerous atrocities around the world."