Chapter 6
Annabeth
She knew Tony wanted answers, but she wasn't ready to give them all. He could have some vague answers and explanations, but nothing too specific. She didn't know him, and it was weird thinking of him as her father. Tony was clearly trying his best so far though, so she had hope that it would turn out alright.
Percy was tense beside her as they walked up the stairs to where Tony was making their cocoa. Both of them were nervous about whatever they were about to walk into, not knowing what to expect. But when they walked into the kitchen, all they found was Tony finishing up making coca with a plate of cookies on the table. They sat, thanking him. He waved them off and sat with them. She could see the worry behind his eyes even though he was trying to hide it.
The three of them were silent for a minute, just drinking their cocoa, before Tony spoke up.
“I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but I really need to know where you got those scars. I don't need specifics if you're not comfortable with that, but I at least need to know you're in a safe environment now at least. Some of those scars look really old, some look really new, and honestly I'm not sure which is worse.”
She tapped her fingers on her mug, thinking of how to respond. Percy shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the question. He hated these types of conversations because they brought back memories of Gabe. She squeezed his hand before speaking.
“We’ve been through a lot, especially in these last few years. A lot of it we can’t talk about, and might never be able to. The important thing for you to know is that we are ok now and we currently live with Sally, Percy’s mom, who would never hurt us, and neither would her husband Paul. In the past, we’ve been in too many life or death situations to count, and we’re lucky we made it out, especially when so many did not.” Percy fiddled with his necklace next to her, the names of those they’d lost engraved so they would never be forgotten. “We have been fighting for our lives since we were 12. Neither of us would have survived, especially in those early years, without each other.”
“That's an understatement," Percy scoffed. "I had no idea what was going on because nobody bothered to explain anything to me. You and Chiron were all cryptic with everything, and I was always out of the loop. If it weren't for you, I’d have been dead within the first two weeks of arriving at camp. You had years of training and knowledge, all I had was a week of training, minimal info, and no control.”
“Yeah, but you were Luke’s little prodigy. I’ve never seen someone pick up swordplay that fast.”
“Could I get a little context here? I feel like you two are talking in code,” Tony butted in.
“I understand that you're confused, and I'm sorry, but there are some things we can’t tell you, and really all you need to know is we can handle a myriad of weapons and fight extremely well. I've been training since I was seven, and Percy’s been training since he was 12. Both of us are dyslexic, have ADHD, and PTSD. We’ve been in battles, been tortured, nearly been killed, and have watched friends die.” Annabeth said grimly.
Tony backed off that line of questioning, jaw clenching at the thought of his daughter being tortured. He'd never been good with the emotional stuff though, so he opted to just nod and sip his coca while he contemplated what to say next.
“I’m just glad to have you back, Annabeth. Not knowing what had happened to you for so long was agony. I nearly drove myself mad, especially in those early days, wondering what happened to you and always fearing the worst. While I’m ecstatic you're alive, it pains me that you've been through so much already. I’m sorry that my security wasn't enough. I should have done better and kept improving it but I got tied up with other projects. I’m so, so, sorry that you had to go through that.” Tony’s face was completely earnest, and he looked to be on the verge of tears.He was white knuckling his mug, looking slightly like a kicked puppy.
“How about we watch a movie, since we all know none of us will be able to go back to sleep?”
Percy lit up, shaking off the nerves of the barley avoided conversation he hated having. A smile slowly spread across her face. Her boyfriend always took the most joy in the little things. His excitement was contagious, and she understood more than most why. They didn’t know when they would get sucked into another war and have to fight for their lives, so it was best to enjoy what time they did have to the fullest.
“Any objections to Mean Girls?” Percy asked hopefully.
There were none, so as soon as they refilled their hot cocoa Friday played the movie. Annabeth and Percy were snuggled together on the couch, and not even halfway into the movie they fell asleep.
Tony
He wasn’t really watching the movie. This Jackson kid was still making him wary. Watching Annabeth's interactions with him though, that was interesting. His files had said he was highly dangerous and an active threat, but he was nothing but soft and understanding towards Annabeth. The only times he had seemed dangerous were when they threatened to separate the two of them and when he was sparring with Annabeth. There was a cold fire behind his eyes that screamed don't mess with me, i’ll fuck you up for it.
Watching them fall asleep on the couch together was what finally made up his mind about Jackson. Annabeth fell asleep first, laying right on top of him, and he was out soon after. Even in their sleep, they subconsciously held on to each other like they’d never get another chance.
That's when he decided Jackson could stay.
He still didn’t know quite what they had been through, but it seemed like they had each other for support no matter what. There was never even a shadow of doubt in any of Annabeth's movements--both conscious and unconscious-- around Jackson, and that made Jackson worthy in his book.
Peter padded down the hallway no more than fifteen minutes after they had fallen asleep. His face scrunched up in confusion at the sight he beheld. A raised eyebrow was given to Tony as a silent plea for explanation.
“Those two were woken up by nightmares and decided to go to the gym and spar. I put a stop to that because, hello, I don’t want my daughter to get injured, especially since it’s the first day i’ve had her back. We then had a little talk over cocoa and started Mean Girls, to which they promptly fell asleep.”
“They were sparring?”
“That's all you got from that? Seriously? Yeah though, apparently they’re both really good with swords and stuff. Odd choice of weapons, and they wouldn’t tell me where they trained. Also, they are both covered in scars. Like, their torsos are almost completely full of scars of all different sizes and ages. I don’t know what they’ve been through, but whatever it was looks like it was hell for them.”
“Anyway, Percy's going to want to go home in the morning. I think we should go with them and scope out the place. They both say that his mom would never hurt them but some of Percy’s mannerisms around me have me suspicious about it.”
“That’s a good idea, Mr. Stark. Then you’d see where she’s been living and what her home life is like firsthand.”
Tony nodded, gesturing to the movie that was now ending. “Want to watch Star Wars? I know the whole reason you’re up is because you had a nightmare too, and don’t you even try to deny it. I know you don't want to talk about it though, so movies?”
Peter smiled, snatching the remote from the coffee table.
————-
As he had predicted, Percy and Annabeth did want to go home to get a few things. It killed him that Annabeth’s home wasn't in the tower with the rest of the family, but he was excited to see this part of her life. Percy looked like he had to physically restrain himself from running down the hall to their apartment as the elevator doors opened, electing to walk hand in hand with Annabeth instead.
Annabeth let them all in with her key, and immediately they were assaulted with the scent of a baking cake. A woman, whom he assumed to be Sally Jackson, Percy’s mom, stepped out of the kitchen to give both the kids huge hugs.
A little girl jumped off the couch and bolted towards Annabeth, jumping up for a huge hug. Annabeth reciprocated, squeezing the little girl tight.
“I missed you Annie!”
“I missed you too Stella, what did you do last night?”
Percy threw his arms up. “What am I, chopped liver? I missed you too Estelle!”
“Yeah but you were supposed to tell me about an adventure last night before bed, and you weren’t here so Annabeth gets priority.”
“Aww, c‘mon Stella, I didn’t mean to ditch you.”
“Nope! Mom said you’re only aloud to ditch home if you’re in danger. That's the rules Percy.”
“Will you forgive me if I promise to teach you how to use Riptide?”
Annabeth slapped Percy’s arm playfully, mouth agape. Estelle was already nodding excitedly latching on to Percy like he had just hung the moon.
“Percy you cannot do that. She’s five. It’s way too dangerous, and you are so lucky Sally already went back into the kitchen so she couldn’t hear what you just said.”
“Psh, ye of little faith. Obviously, I would start her out with a stick. And she'll be a natural, just you wait.”
Tony was so incredibly lost, but was enjoying this insight into Annabeth’s life. He and Peter exchanged nervous glances just before Sally came back out.
“The cake is done guys, why don’t you sit down?”
“I’ll help you bring it out, Mom,” Percy added, and Annabeth brought them over to the living room to sit. A slice of blue cake was placed in his hands not thirty seconds later. He really hoped he wasn’t about to have a repeat of May’s 'walnut date loaf'.
He was pleasantly surprised that the blue cake tasted absolutely delectable.
Peter piped up from beside him. “Are you a baker Mrs. Jackson? This cake is amazing!”
Sally laughed and thanked Peter, informing him that she was not, in fact, a baker.
They made small talk while everyone ate, and Tony quickly understood why Percy and Annabeth were so insistent that she would never hurt them. She was easily the nicest woman he had ever met, though he would never admit that to Pepper.
A few minutes after finishing, Annabeth thanked Sally and got up, disappearing into one of the rooms. Tony presumed it was hers, and this was confirmed when Percy got up and asked if they wanted to see their room. He had forgotten that they shared a room here, and was interested to see what it looked like.
Percy and Annabeth’s room was actually fairly tidy. There was a strong aquatic theme in the room, from blue walls to seashells and various other ocean themed items throughout, as well as an academic vibe. There was a huge bookshelf, though the books appeared to be in archaic Greek, with a few also in Latin. Strange choices for teenagers. Blueprints were spread across the desk, held down with calculus textbooks and conch shells. Pictures littered the walls of the two of them with another brown haired boy, all in bright orange t-shirts that he couldn’t make out the words on. The more recent pictures were of a larger friend group on what looked like a Europe trip. Everyone looked happy in the pictures, but if you looked closer, you could see healing wounds over all of them and a slight desperation behind their eyes.
“Do your friends live around here?” Tony asked, breaking the silence.
Annabeth looked up from her bag. “Rachel lives in the city most of the time, but the rest of them live just outside it or in California.”
“That's quite some discrepancy there kid, how’d you meet all of them?”
“They’re friends from Camp.”
“And what camp did you go to again?” Tony tried, hoping they would slip up and tell him.
He had no such luck, only earning himself a flat stare from Percy.
They packed quickly and said goodbye to Percy’s family. Estelle reminded Percy of his promise and he nodded enthusiastically, but told her they would have to wait a couple days. She was not discouraged by this at all.
The elevator ride was taken in silence, and Peter was loading up the trunk of the Audi with a few of their things. He closed the trunk with slightly more force than necessary. Tony was about to admonish him, but Peter spun around and settled into a fighting stance.
Something was wrong.
Annabeth and Percy seemed to also sense the danger, exchanging worried glances. Percy took a pen out of his pocket and was holding it menacingly.
The four of them watched as the side of Oscorp’s main research facility exploded, debris flying everywhere. Out of the new hole flew out a person in a green suit on some sort of glider. They zoomed away through the air, quickly disappearing into the busy New York streets.
Peter looked back at Tony, who nodded. “Go.”
He was gone before Tony had even finished talking.
Not thirty seconds later, Spider-Man could be seen giving chase to glider guy.
Percy moved like he wanted to chase after him as well, but Annabeth threw her arm out to stop him. She shook her head as if to say, not now. He deflated a little and followed her back into the car.
Huh. That was an odd interaction.
Tony headed to the driver's seat and soon they were back off to the tower. He tried to repress his anxiety about Peter and failed horribly. The entire way home his brain kept rolling through worst case scenarios and he couldn’t even muster the ability to make small talk with his kid. Radio music played in the background while everyone was absorbed in their own thoughts. She didn’t seem to mind though, choosing to just look out the window with a worried look on her face.
Natasha
Natasha strolled into Fury’s office like she owned the place. As one of the only agents he truly trusted, she kind of did. Nick only looked up from his papers, already knowing that she was here to request top secret information.
The type of top secret that was only kept on paper, or in the minds of those at the top.
“What do you want, Nat.”
“Aww, you know me so well. I need everything you have on a couple kids. Names are Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. And I mean everything.”
“I assume you’ve already hacked into all the files available electronically?”
She raised her eyebrow as if to say, look who you’re talking to.
“Yeah, yeah, i’ll get them.” Fury sighed, like the drama queen he was.
He opened one of the hidden compartments in the floor. A hand scan was required first, followed by an eye scan. Only after his identity had been verified was he able to enter the passwords. There were two, and both were random combinations of letters and numbers that changed monthly. Fury also had to input her name and the information she requested before he could finally open the mini vault for the files she wanted. He pulled a thick stack of files out and handed them to her.
She was surprised at just how much there was. These kids had to be involved with some shady shit to warrant that much information.
“You can stay here as long as you want to read them, but they can't leave this room, understand?”
She gave him a sharp nod and migrated to the couch over in the corner.
“I have to meet with secretary Ross, behave while you’re in here. You know where to put the files.”