Pandemonium

Percy felt light trying to claw at his vision.

He had gone without it for such an imperceptible amount of time that he opened his eyes eagerly, not waiting to check if it was indeed advisable to do so.

It wouldn't have been the first reckless decision of his life after all.

And in this case, he had been rewarded handsomely. In quite the literal sense, because hovering over his face was the very definition of the word.

His husband.

Phoebus Apollon.

Percy's newly attained consciousness must have been limiting his common sense, because the first thing he did was run a hand through Apollo's forehead in an attempt to smooth away the lines of worry that had formed there.

That one action gave Percy a bunch of realisations. Apollo was sitting on the ground, with Percy in his arms. Apollo's hands and body felt like brands on his skin, and after the cold darkness in his cell, Percy found himself nuzzling into the other god.

But the alarming realisation was that arm he raised up to Apollo's face seemed to be covered in ichor. A quick look showed that even Apollo seemed to be covered in the godly blood.

His concern must have shown on his face, because Percy's face was soon being held in a gentle grip.

"I'm not hurt, sweetheart. You have nothing to worry about."

He then felt a gentle kiss on his forehead and found himself drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

-

Tony found himself lying in his suite, in his tower, with his head resting on Pepper's lap, with her fingers carding through his hair.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Pepper questioned.

Tony had been lying there for quite some time by then. He had only just gotten the chance to process the happenings of the past few days.

Even then, he wasn't sure he had covered all the topics he wanted to.

"They're gods, Pepper." He simply said.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me, Pep. I wanted to believe that they were just aliens. I mean, I've seen them fight. I've seen them do things that blow my mind. You know why there have been so many accidents in the sea lately? It's because Percy's dad is throwing a hissy fit over his favourite son's disappearance."

Pepper arched a perfect eyebrow.

"What? The man himself said it. And also, quick note, don't take their names when you don't want to attract their attention to your conversation."

"You're telling me that just by using their name in a sentence, however unrelated it may be, they'll just listen in?"

"Yup. Kinda like Voldemort. Learned that the hard way."

"Do I wanna know?"

"Definitely not."

"Hmm. What else?"

Her fingers had started massaging his scalp slightly, making Tony feel very drowsy.

"You wouldn't want to believe me, but remember Rachel Dare? She's Apollo's Oracle it seems. She actually spouts prophecies and stuff." He yawned. "I haven't seen it happen but I doubt Triton would lie about something like that."

"True. That guy is so straight laced, I wouldn't believe he was Percy's brother if the two didn't look so similar."

That brought a light chuckle to Tony's lips.

"Speaking of looks... Did you know that Deadpool is like completely disfigured?"

-

Anushka decided that her day was going splendidly.

She had managed to score full marks in a rather difficult test and two of her teachers had taken the day off. She decided to ignore the fact that one of them was Professor Jackson.

He would be back soon, she knew it.

He had been a central figure in a lot of news lately, along with his rumoured husband, the singer Apollo.

A lot of allegations were being thrown around. The videos of the other celebrities had brought out some vicious debates, even on topics that were considered taboo, like incest.

Anushka liked to ignore them, just like Dr. Salisbury had come to their classes and asked them to. He had also told them to wait for Professor Jackson to return and give his own account of events. We were some of the brightest minds in the country after all. Jumping to conclusions without sufficient evidence would be a rookie mistake.

Besides, Anushka was beginning to thoroughly hate the media with every passing day. Maybe because for once the news she was watching was about someone she had interacted with in daily life. She saw how the media liked to spin stories in ways that suited them. Making her professor into somebody that he wasn't.

They had been interviewing old classmates of his, and she had felt the need to gag when a guy named Matt Sloan had claimed that Professor Jackson had been a bully in high school. Even Anushka knew that there wasn't a bone in his body capable of being mean. Professor Jackson was the sweetest person she had ever had the pleasure of coming across.

Then, because the media didn't seem to be able to get to his parents, they had tried to catch his half-sister after school. To say that she had been furious would've been an understatement. The videoclips of her giving the reporters a thorough mouthing had been viral for days. Estelle Blofis was an absolute idol for teenagers all over the world.

All the drama had been entertaining and all, but she just hoped that maybe someone would come up with clarifications.

Her classmates had all expressed their anxiety on learning that apparently their professor and the other celebrities from the videos had been kidnapped.

It had made for a tense atmosphere all around. But today, the Avengers had released an official statement.

Professor Jackson and the other celebrities had been rescued.

-

It had been an entire day since they had rescued Percy. Apollo had refused to let him out of sight for even a moment.

The medical wing of Avengers Tower was teeming with gods and demigods.

Thankfully, the kidnappees hadn't been harmed externally. The only major injuries had occured during the battle and they were all a quick fix.

When Apollo had walked out of the Washington Monument with an ichor covered Percy in his arms, the fighting had seized. Kronos's allies had made a hasty retreat as soon as Zeus and Poseidon had brought their fight to the streets of the capital.

Poseidon had been furious at the other Olympians and his children for not informing him of Percy's rescue mission. Apollo had tried to avoid his father in law, but it was very hard when said man was searching for Percy, who was nestled safely against Apollo's chest.

Poseidon had brought with him a terrifying storm that had confined all the residents of the capital within their homes. Zeus's anger only seemed to add fuel to the fire as he tried his hardest to prove that Kronos hadn't really returned.

By then, the enemy lines had dwindled and the main players had returned to their leader to lick their wounds.

Surprisingly though, the members of the different pantheons seemed to get along relatively well. Apollo had spotted playfully violent reunions between the Carter siblings and the einherjar.

With quick check ups for Will, Nico, Meg and Rachel, Apollo had deemed them all fit and fine.

After doing the same with the Avengers, he had asked Tony if his Tower could be used as a temporary base for recovery. Stark had agreed.

Apollo had instantly taken Percy and flashed to the room they had previously used in the tower. He trusted Triton to lead in his absence. He hoped that Tri would also do something to appease the media temporarily.

There was still a lot to be done. A lot to prepare for. A lot of facts to verify.

Like Jason.

Apollo did not know what to think when they said that Kronos had taken Jason's body as a vessel.

Jason wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for Apollo.

The least Apollo could've done was to give him peace in death, and apparently, he had failed in that too.

His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed Percy stirring. His eyebrows drew together, nose scrunching a little, lips forming a small pout as his eyes tried to adjust to the light.

Apollo couldn't help himself, and tucked a few strands of hair behind Percy's ear. He then cupped his husband's face in his palm, lightly stroking his cheek with a warm thumb.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty."

Apollo tried to go for a carefree smile, but some of his relief must have shown, because Percy's smile was sad.

Then all of a sudden, Percy had launched himself at Apollo, arms tightly wrapped around his ribs, in a bone crushing hug. Apollo's arms moved to hold the other god, their heads nestled in each other's necks.

They stayed that way for a long moment. Long enough for Apollo to sense the wetness slowly accumulating on his shirt.

"Percy?" He asked tentatively, running a soothing hand along his spine.

"Sweetheart...." He said, as he pulled away slightly to look at Percy. "What's wrong?"

Percy didn't answer. Instead, Apollo felt himself being pulled to the bed beside Percy.

"Stay." Percy said to him, voice coarse from screaming. "Please?" His sea green eyes were so wide and compelling, Apollo couldn't have said no if his life depended on it. But he also noticed something else in those beautiful eyes.

Fear.

The emotion looked foreign on Percy, and combined with the new bits of information he had been given, Apollo knew that he had to make sure Percy would remain as calm as possible until their grandfather would be defeated.

He felt Percy snuggling up to him, trying to keep himself as warm as possible. It hurt so much to watch one of the strongest people he knew to appear so weak.

He put an arm around Percy's waist, and whispered into his ear, "Darling, you need to eat something." He ignored the shiver that ran through the his husband's body. "It'll just take a few minutes. Some nectar and ambrosia, and you can lie down again. Okay?"

He didn't get an answer, but he felt Percy trying to sit up. He did not accept any help when Apollo tried to assist him, but Percy kept a deathly grip over Apollo's hand the whole time. Even after he was comfortably seated on his bed.

Apollo understood. He had to stay.

But he never had any intention of leaving at all.

Not now, and not ever.

-

Percy felt like he was in a dream.

It was probably because he had no food in him.

Apollo brought out a flask full of nectar and a bowl full of blue cookies laced with ambrosia.

Oh, how had he ever decided to ignore this man?

Apollo's face looked positively divine with how the light was hitting him just right. A few strands of his hair were framing his face and his eyes shone with flecks of gold as he looked at Percy.

He felt something prod at his lips, and looked down to find that Apollo was trying to feed him the nectar with a straw.

Percy wrapped his lips around the straw and began to drink, watching as Apollo's eyes seemed to take in his actions resulting in an almost audible gulp. The sun god looked away immediately though, and Percy tried to hide his disappointment by simply giving Apollo's hand a squeeze and then lacing their fingers together.

"Percy?" The god beside him asked.

Percy looked at him.

"When we found you..." Apollo's free hand seemed to pick at the edges of his sweater. He clearly didn't want to talk about this. "You were covered in ichor."

Percy's confusion must have been evident, because Apollo seemed to relax almost imperceptibly, explaining to him, "There were scratch marks all over your body."

Percy waited, silently urging for him to continue.

"They were self inflicted." Apollo finished, and understanding dawned on him.

Percy did not know how he wanted to explain this to Apollo. So he nodded to show that he had understood and finished his nectar.

Percy was so busy thinking of what to say that he probably came across as not wanting to speak at the moment. So Apollo seemed to have decided it would be a good opportunity to feed him the cookies.

And Percy definitely wasn't going to complain.

It might have made for a romantic or even erotic sight, if it were not for the underlying tension caused by unspoken words.

"How long was I there?" Percy decided to break his silence.

Apollo seemed to take a few minutes to consider his reply.

"In the outside world, it was about two days. Factually, it would be hard to determine because grandfather had put up time capsules all over the place." He paused to take a deep breath. "For me though, it felt like a lifetime."

Apollo had averted his eyes at that last sentence, as if he expected to be reprimanded for feeling that way. But in truth, Percy couldn't bear to think about staying away from Apollo for even a moment.

Percy wanted to kiss him. It would probably be a reckless decision. Apollo might not even like him that way, a treacherous part of his brain warned. But the moment was too emotionally charged.

He decided to wait until they could both calm down a little and really decide where they wanted to take this.

So he decided to cut through the tension with a terrible subject.

"So..." He began, and the nectar and ambrosia seemed to have cured most of his voice, he noted. "I had to think a little to find the right words, but I'm pretty sure what they did to me was solitary confinement and sensory deprivation." He tried for a wry smile, but it might have come across as more of a grimace.

Apollo was the one who hugged him first this time.

Percy tucked his head into the crook of the other god's neck, inhaling his familiar scent, and instantly felt calmer. His limbs relaxed against Apollo's hold.

"I figured as much." Apollo admitted. "And I'm guessing you cut yourself up when you tried to see if you could feel something?" His voice was impossibly gentle and inviting.

Percy felt himself nodding into his warm neck.

He felt a kiss being placed on the top of his head.

Apollo held him for some more time, with his hands soothingly running over his back and through his tangled mess of hair.

But their time alone was soon cut short as Percy's friends and family decided to interrupt them.

It was heartening to see them all getting along.

His immortal family were the first ones coming in.

Tri and Rhode had looked pleasantly surprised upon seeing Percy and Apollo together on his bed. But Kym had proceeded to threaten Apollo with castration and driven him out of the room.

Then came the rest of the Olympians, and then his friends from both camps. Even the ones who had been kidnapped had visited him, but they refused to tell him any details about their capture.

He couldn't help but feel like they were hiding something on purpose.

Especially Nico. He had never been good at hiding anything from Percy.

But he decided to let it slide for now.

Then the Egyptians and the Norse came to check on him.

Last came the Avengers, who seemed to be pretty pissed at being given the final slot.

He got hugs from everyone.

Even Nat hugged him.

She must've been really worried.

He could've done without Thor's hug though. He had almost certainly broken a rib or two.

After the rather emotional reunions, Percy was munching on another cookie to repair his ribs when he had an unexpected visitor.

Wade Wilson.

"For someone who was being tortured, you sure look like you belong on a billboard, darling."

And Percy had given him a hearty laugh.

"Seriously though, I feel so betrayed, Perse. I thought we were chums, you know? And then I hear that you've been married to The Apollo all along. You better have a good explanation for this."

Percy was no way near apologetic enough, but Wade took it all in style, like he usually does.

They spoke for some time when Wade made an accidental slip up.

Something about Percy's 'condition'.

And then, instantly, he had clammed up.

When asked about it, he had said rather hesitantly about a standing 'doctor's order' on not sharing any information that hadn't undergone his approval.

Percy didn't need to think twice to know who said doctor was.

He was definitely going to wring the answers out of Apollo.

But that had to wait.

Because, standing at the door of his room, was the last person he wished to talk to.

Poseidon.