Chapter 3
Tony
His eyes searched the room as he opened the door, landing on a teenage girl with curly blonde hair. Her hair had a streak of gray in it, and it didn't look dyed. There were scars visible all along her arms, disappearing up into the sleeves of her t-shirt. They were probably from trying to get away from her kidnappers, but some of them looked a lot fresher than others. What had happened to her in all these years? How had she managed to get away? She was talking to Peter, posture comfortable, like they were familiar with each other already.
When he walked in the conversation trailed off and she stood.
“Hi, I'm Annabeth.”
It hurt so much that his own daughter had to introduce herself to him. She never should have been taken away in the first place. He wanted to hate the situation they were in, but he was too happy to have his daughter actually standing in front of him to feel anything other than joy.
“Tony, why don't you sit with us.” Peter said, clearly trying to cut through some of the uneasy tension. Tony sat, not taking his eyes off of his daughter.
“How did you end up here,” he asked. He knew that probably wasn't the best question to ask first, but he didn't know how Peter had found her yet, only being told the bare minimum on the phone.
“Peter and I are on Decathlon together. The team took a field trip here for a tour and my fingerprints tripped your system. Peter took me up here to get me out of the lobby so we could do a paternity test, and here we are.”
“You two know each other?”
“Yeah, I started at Midtown this year. Peter, MJ, and Ned have been great.”
He looked over at Peter, who nodded before speaking. “You've been great too! Flash doesn't bother us at all anymore after you went off on him.”
“That's because he's a pushover. He only bothered you because he hates that you're smarter than him and your family loves you. He’s just jealous and trying to make himself feel better.”
Peter looked a little taken aback by her show of observational skills, clearly not having expected her to say that. Also, Peter had been bullied? He filed that information away for later and took this as a good time to jump in with another important question. The most important question, actually.
“Where have you been all these years?” He tried to keep his emotions out of his voice, but he could tell from Peter's face that he did not accomplish it.
Her entire body language changed. Before, she had been a little hesitant, and you could tell she felt out of place, but she was open. Now, her expression became extremely guarded and closed off. He almost didn't notice it, but Natasha had been teaching to read microexpressions better, so he picked up on it. She was very good at masking it though. What was she hiding?
“I ran away from, ah, home when I was seven. Three older kids helped me get somewhere safe, and we eventually found people to live with. I lived there until this year, when I moved in with my boyfriend and his family so I could go to school in the city.”
There was so much to unpack with that. He got more questions than answers from that statement. She ran away when she was seven? From who? And she survived because of some older kids? What kind of family did she find? Who was her boyfriend?
Ok, maybe that last one wasn't as important, but still. He wanted to know who this guy was. Especially since she was apparently living with him. At 17.
“Annabeth, is there anyone that you want us to call for you?” Peter jumped in, once again saving them from more awkward tension.
“Umm, yeah. If Percy could come that would be great. Paul will have to call him out though, he cannot miss anymore school. Can I call him?”
They nodded, and she pulled out her phone. He caught a glimpse of the contact name before she put it to her ear. ‘Seaweed brain’ picked up almost immediately, and could be heard asking frantically if she was alright from across the table. Annabeth calmed him down and told him that she was fine, she just needed him to come to the tower as soon as he could. The conversation continued for a minute or two, and he was just becoming more and more confused. Why did she reiterate that there were no monsters? Was this guy crazy? Finally, she told him to make Paul call him out because he didn't need any more absences this year, and ended the call with a ‘love you, seaweed brain’.
“He should be here in like, a half hour. Is that ok?”
“Yeah, that's fine. Can you tell me his last name so Friday can do a background check? It's standard for anyone that's going to one of the upper floors.”
She laughed at that. “If he doesn't pass, will he be unable to come up? Because he’s probably not going to pass it.”
What? Why did she think this Percy kid wouldn't pass the background check? Was he like a serial killer or something? Who was she hanging around with?
“That depends on why he wouldn't pass it,” he said carefully, hoping that she’d just tell him.
She just shook her head, a slight smile on her face. “It's your funeral if you try to keep him out I guess. Jackson. Percy Jackson.”
Why did that name sound familiar?
Friday instantly pulled up everything on Percy Jackson and put it on a hologram in front of him. FBI, Police, school records, news reports, everything that could possibly be found. And the sheer amount of files on this kid astounded him. He was expecting him to maybe have a few misdemeanor arrests by the way Annabeth had sounded, not this. Percy Jackson had been on the FBI’s most wanted list at the ripe age of 12, and had been on and off of it since. Currently, he was just on the watchlist. Also at 12, he’d blown up a bus, been kidnapped, and faced off with his kidnapper on a California beach. In the years that followed, he stole multiple cars, including a police cruiser, in a mad dash across California. He was credited with blowing up the gateway arch. Police stations across the country wanted him taken in as a suspect for a multitude of different crimes.
Wait. Go back. Was that Annabeth in the picture with him from when they were 12? They were kidnapped together? Who was the other boy in the picture?
He was becoming more and more concerned the longer he read about this kid.
“Annabeth, how do you know Percy Jackson? This news article says you were kidnapped together when you were 12 with another boy, is that how you met?”
She thought for a minute before answering.
“Yes, and we kept in contact afterwards.”
She was lying. But, he could see in her eyes that she wasn't going to give him a better explanation, so he left it.
“Is he allowed to come up?”
“Annabeth, he is on an FBI watchlist. I-”
She cut him off. “He’s not a threat unless you try to keep him away.”
He leveled her a flat look. “That is not reassuring. You just admitted that he is a threat.”
“Not a threat to me, only to you if you try to keep him out.”
“I’m Iron Man, I think I can handle a 17 year old boy.”
“Then you should have no problem letting him in the tower.”
Damn. She got him there. And honestly, he would like having someone here to give him a little more context as to what Annabeth's life was like. Hopefully this Percy kid would be a bit more forthcoming with answers.
“Fine, but Friday will monitor his every move.”
Annabeth beamed, and it hurt his heart. There was so much he didn't know about her life and what she was like. He hadn't meant to drive her away over this whole Percy Jackson thing, but he seemed like a possible threat. He was going to do everything in his power to never lose her again. They continued to talk about little, inconsequential things, Friday filing away everything she said. She seemed more at ease now, but occasionally a question would make her tense up and start to reach for something at her hip that wasn't there before forcibly relaxing again.
When Friday informed them that Percy Jackson was in the building, he told her to let him use his personal elevator to come directly to them and only to them. He did not want this kid in an elevator with his staff, he was too much of a risk. The few minutes it took him to get on their floor were spent mostly in tense silence. Annabeth was tapping her leg nervously.
Finally, the elevator door opened. Percy Jackson looked like a skater boy who’d gotten in the middle of a gang war. He was covered in scars, just like Annabeth. He also had a gray streak in his hair that matched hers. His was slightly smaller though, it just stood out more because of his darker hair. There was an aura of power radiating off of him. Tony's mind was streaming at him that this kid was extremely dangerous and he should not be allowed near Annabeth. Percy was twirling a ballpoint pen between his fingers as he pushed open the door, eyes searching the room for Annabeth.
They ran to each other, coming together with a tight hug before Percy stepped back to ask if she was alright. She assured him that she was fine before explaining why she was here. Their hands remained interlocked.
“What about the Chases? How do they fit into this?” Percy asked her.
“I’m not sure yet, but it's probably not good.” She responded.
He watched the two of them interact. She seemed much more at ease now, though they both still looked on edge. They seemed to mirror each other's actions, instinctively knowing what the other person was trying to say before they finished talking. They were obviously extremely close.
It finally hit him that this was probably the boyfriend she’d mentioned earlier. That was nerve wracking. This kid was obviously extremely dangerous and apparently she was living with his family? What kind of parent lets two 17 year olds move in together?
Annabeth seemed at ease around him though, so he would drop it for now. But he met Peter's eyes from across the table. If he did anything to try to hurt her, Iron Man and Spiderman would be right there to stop it.
Annabeth
She knew Tony didn't like Percy. It was obvious from the way he was on edge anytime Percy moved closer to her or made sudden movements.
Percy was aware of this as well, and seemed to be doing both of those things specifically to put Tony on edge.
Wait. Was Tony going to expect her to call him Dad? She hoped not. She could barely call Athena 'Mom' after everything her and Percy had gone through to keep the Gods in power. And she was wary of Tony. People in power tended to abuse it, at least in her experience. She also didn't need someone to baby her like she couldn't protect herself. With Percy it was different, because they were both the same way. Both of them knew that the other was more than capable of protecting themselves, they just worried about each other because after everything they’ve been through, it was impossible not to. Tony, however, did not know any of this and would likely treat her like a fragile doll while he tried to extract as much information from her as he could.
She was glad Percy was there with her. They had faced hell together, they could get through this too. And Tony was going to have to get over his dislike of Percy really soon, because neither of them could sleep without each other. They had tried sleeping apart and it hadn't ended well. The only other person who understood what they were going through was Nico, and while the three of them did talk about it occasionally, (as their therapist told them to do) her and Percy only felt truly safe with each other.
But that was a whole other can of worms that she definitely didn't want to open right now. Tony looked like he was on the verge of tears and a heart attack at the same time.
“Alright why don't we move this conversation to a more comfortable area? I know Pepper is dying to see you, Annabeth,” Tony said. He was trying to act like he had his emotions under control when he very clearly did not.
She nodded at him and squeezed Percy’s as they walked towards the elevator. He squeezed her hand back as they got in. After the elevator out of Tartarus, both of them hated elevators. Just getting in an elevator caused their heart rates to spike. She closed her eyes and leaned into Percy’s shoulder, reminding herself that they were safe. When she opened her eyes and stood up properly before the elevator opened to let them out, she noticed Tony watching her. He didn't look calculating like she expected him to. Instead, he just looked sad.
The door opened with a soft ding to reveal Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, both of whom she recognized from the papers. She realized she was nervous in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. She wanted these people to like her. The realization made her grip Percy’s hand even harder, and as always, he understood what it meant. He leaned over to whisper to her.
“They'll love you, wise girl, and they’d be fools not to. You’ll do great.”
He smiled reassuringly at her, and together they stepped out to meet them, Peter and Tony following closely behind.