III
Nick Fury calmly knocked on the wooden varnished and polished door and wiped his head of any errant rainwater. If he was right Perseus was here. His gaze trailed to the door behind him. The lady, Ms. Norris, that lived there was a nice one if a bit nosey.
Luckily, she didn't feel it prudent to come out and question him.
Though he supposed he should be grateful for the school teacher, if nothing else. If not for her snooping, Fury might have not known Perseus had returned to the city until he upped and disappeared again.
Regardless, for someone that had been annoyingly hard to keep accurate tabs on for the past eight years, he had a rather normal routine, one that he hardly deviated from. A creature of habit but one with a nasty habit of disappearing whenever he felt like it.
Now normally, he wouldn't conduct a mission like this. Perks of being Director of SHIELD. A lowly agent would've sufficed easily enough to get a profile on the subject.
However, considering the unofficial nature of this visit and his own personal and invested interest in said subject, Fury did not favor getting a second-hand account for someone that shouldn't even ring a bell on SHIELD's radar.
Besides, despite everything that has been going on, he was sure that this was nothing more than a fluke and nothing would come of it. Mostly, this was just to sate his own curiosity on the subject.
"On my way!" The voice of Sally Blofis, the mother of Perseus Jackson. A rather warm but strict woman in the occupation of an author whose book had immediately become a best-seller. If he remembered she was currently working on a sequel to it.
Nothing real noteworthy other than being related to Perseus Jackson.
Though throughout Fury's investigation of her son, he had cast the occasional eye to see if he did happen to show up but other than four years ago when her son had quite literally disappeared off the face of the world, the Director concluded that the son had not kept in contact with the mother during all that time.
There was a point though where for the past two years a small memorial had been erected on a window sill that contained a portrait of a younger Perseus and decorated with several stalks of a lily flower with near pearlescent petals. He had stopped looking for the kid after that.
Even Fury had his morals, and if something happened to the kid he would not be the one to disturb the peace of a grieving mother and her small family.
That was something that he usually left to Coulson or Hill. He wanted no part in telling parents that their child was not going to come home anymore. All it did was remind him of how his own mother was when he returned home from Europe and despite his wall of stoicism there would not be tears if he could avoid it.
Perks of being their Director and boss, even if it was almost an abuse of power and authority.
Yet every now and then he there would be that special agent that had struck a chord within him that would get killed in the line of duty, and he wouldn't find himself shirking in his duty then. He had delivered his fair share of folded flags and golden stars and it was something that never got easier.
If anything it got worse.
The soft footfalls were easily heard.
That was when Fury felt it. An underlying sense of danger that gripped the Director of SHIELD, one he hadn't felt since he had first laid eyes upon the Tesseract. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he had force himself to not reach for his holstered handgun. An instinct that wasn't so easily fought.
"Hello?" The polished door was slightly opened with Sally poking her head through the small crack that had appeared. Her chocolate brown hair frazzled and she looked to be wearing an apron with daisies stitched on it.
Yet despite Fury's rather intimidating appearance, eye patch complete with his leather rain coat, the woman did not appear to be threatened. If anything she seemed even more suspicious.
Curious. Fury thought as he went for pulled his badge for SHIELD from the confines of his coat. He had to whip and wipe away some of the rainwater for her to see it. "Hello, I'm here to speak to a Perseus Jackson?"
She scrunched her eyes at him in further suspicion but he played it off as being someone from the government. No one trusted him as soon as he pulled out a badge no matter if they were doing something illegal or not. So he wasn't the least bit offended.
Contrary to popular belief, SHIELD did not have ultimate authority to do as they pleased. The agency still had to play ball with the folks in charge. The rules were what separated man from animal after all.
But that didn't mean that the intelligence organization couldn't bend the rules every once in awhile.
They were an intelligence agency and not the jar heads of the traditional military.
If they needed to they could operate outside of the bounds of conventional jurisdiction.
There was a pause before she opened the door fully and allowed him in. "Please come in." She gestured into her abode. "Would you like me to take your coat?"
He would've loved nothing more but the second piece he was carrying with him would become rather apparent if she did. So he intoned his practiced excuse that he hadn't used in a long time. "I won't be too long."
She nodded. "Suit yourself. He's this way and please excuse the mess, we just had lunch."
Fury merely shrugged. "It wont bother me." He assured.
Sally led him further into the living room but the Director was not idle as he followed. His one eye scanned everything it could.
For an author she sure did have a lot of pictures.
Most of the entry hall had been occupied by framed photos of kids and teenagers in orange shirts. Though he couldn't make out any of the text on the shirts given that they were moving, while other sets were various scenic nature arrays.
Maybe it was inspiration for her books. Fury wouldn't exactly know because he wasn't an author but that was his educated guess.
He retuned to his swift observation, something that would always be with him whenever he entered an unfamiliar environment. There were eight exits including the fire escape and the door he had just walked into. The windows ended in a five story drop, something no one could survive without being seriously injured or crippled afterwards.
That really only left the fire escape and the door.
Nick Fury like to believe he was fast enough on his draw if Perseus attempted to make an escape.
The Director doubted it would come to that considering all of the evidence he had but it never hurt to be prepared in his line of work. Plus it was second nature to consider all of ones options.
They entered the living room where the person in question was sitting casually on the floor while the daughter, Estelle, if he remembered correctly, was waddling all around him as she arrayed all her stuffed animals in a circle around them. A lot, if not all of them, were some sort of marine animal, like stuffed sea horses, dolphins and even a red plush octopus.
A small smile humoring the girl as she pointed to every one of them, naming them for what they are or their nicknames.
That plush octopus apparently being named Big Head.
But that small smile disappeared upon seeing the Director. His face turned neutral and Fury's danger senses went into overdrive.
A certain primordial fear gripped him. One that brought back ancient and primal instincts of flight when Humanity was just the gnat of the world and feared the darkness, the shadows and the monsters hidden within.
Thunder rumbled ominously out the window. The rain seemed to pick up a little harder and the wind hummed a little louder over the cacophony of nature.
Perseus Jackson, despite all evidence to the contrary, was not to be taken lightly.
Lightning flashed outside and Perseus snapped his head to the outside world in response.
"I'm going to put Estelle down for a nap." Sally spoke, snapping both of the men in the room from their thoughts. Estelle wailed for Big Head and Sally gave a pointed look to her son, who only shrugged.
Probably questioning his appearance, though he didn't think too much on it.
If his instincts were telling him that this person was dangerous, then he needed to be careful and keep his mind level and on the straight and narrow. It wouldn't do to be distracted right now.
"Would you like a drink?" A feigned smile from Sally met Fury's calm gaze. He shook his head in the negative. He wouldn't take drinks from subjects.
Now he was doubly sure he didn't want anything from this house entering his body.
The author nodded and walked away while Estelle gripped at the air towards the plush octopus. Fury waited until the woman left the room before he began.
"Perseus Jac-"
"Would you like to sit down?" The twenty year old interrupted while gesturing to the sofa beside the Director. Not many in the world would even think of interrupting Fury but then again the subject didn't know who he was and nor the amount of influence or power that the Director wielded.
Fury cast one more look around the room, his paranoia getting the better of him. Four exits not including the door, no clear weapons in sight but there were quite a few items that could be used if needed.
He nodded, more for himself than for the young adult.
Sitting down, his eyes never left Perseus as the young man maneuvered himself between Fury and the hallway Sally and Estelle exited. He crossed his legs as he sat on the rug and leaned back, but not before wiping at his eyes as if he were tired.
That made Fury look to his eyes when he relinquished his hands and placed them behind his back for support.
They were pale with flecks of green but not enough of the verdant color to be construed as a dominate trait and he doubted he would have noticed the green if he wasn't looking so intently at the eyes.
It was then he realized that the Director had never seen the subject before. There were no clear pictures or videos on his face, just the all encompassing description of ebony haired teen.
Even that was wrong as there was also a small almost unnoticeable tuft of silver hair standing upon the center of the crown of his black windswept hair.
Time to amend some files. At the very least it would make the young adult easier to identify in the future. That silver tuft was a good giveaway and the pale eyes were also a neat indicator as to who he was.
But there was something about the calm demeaner of the young adult before him that set the Director of SHIELD on edge. The relaxed and assured posture was abnormal in people meeting government officials much less those in Fury's presence. Not a sign of tenseness nor anxiety. Only a slight weariness that was kept behind a façade of neutrality.
"Perseus Jackson." Fury began. The named individual inclined his head in acknowledgment. Both gazes never leaving the other. "I must say you have built quite the interesting rapport over the years."
Thunder rumbled ominously outside.
The subject glanced towards the window at the sound. That was the second time he had done so. Was he unsettled by a little lightning? It didn't make sense but Fury shelved that thought for now as Perseus responded, though his voice was one of curiosity more than accusatory. "Okay? I don't see how I would attract the attention of the government."
Fury reached into his coat and was when he saw it. A very, very small difference that had the Director not been looking for it, he was sure he would have missed it.
A slight narrowing of the pale eyes that took on an even greener hue, if that was possible however Fury played it off as a trick of the light, nothing more. However, it was the minute tenseness in his posture that had caught his observing eye. Like a snake that was coiled and ready to strike at any opportunity despite the rather vulnerable position the subject was in at the moment.
Fury produced the thin manila folder that held most pertinent information regarding the young adult before him and handed it to the subject, who took it without preamble. The tenseness never left as he sat straighter and began to examine the contents, scrunching his eyes in concentration as he read.
"You lead a more interesting life than most." Fury spoke as he reclined a little bit into the chair. "Tell me what happened to your step-father, one Gabe Ugliano?"
The young adult shifted in his position. "If I remember correctly what my mom said he just went catatonic and had a stroke." Huh? Fury raised an eyebrow. He had thought that the stepfather had overdosed on heroin but it was suspected that he was killed by the biker to further frame the kid as unstable. "I mean that's what this file says too."
If the eyebrow raised could get higher it did. The Director had read that file a near five times on his way over here. "Let me see that."
Perseus handed the open file to him. Autopsy report and a report from a paramedic at the scene. Dead on arrival from the paramedic but the autopsy report corroborated with what Perseus said. Organs seizing up and then the lack of circulation caused the stroke.
Huh. Now that he thought of it a stroke did make more sense. Why did he think it was an OD?
"Is there a problem, sir?" Perseus asked pulling him from his thoughts.
Fury, however, did not answer and instead continued his line of questioning. "The manhunt when you were twelve tell me about that."
The subject scrunched his eyes in concentration. "Right that. Uh I was with some friends touring the St. Louis Arch. It blew up and we ran. Like any sane person would do. I honestly don't know why the people upstairs thought I did it."
Thunder rumbled outside and Perseus shrugged.
"And why didn't you turn yourself into the authorities if you were innocent?"
"They were ready to blame a twelve year old for blowing up a monument without a shred of evidence. I was under the impression that because of that they weren't all that willing to listen to the word of said twelve year old."
A arc of lightning flashed across the thundering sky, a slight laugh devoid of humor escaped the lips of the young adult.
How he found the situation funny was beyond Fury. Probably a coping mechanism.
Fury hummed. "And your affiliation with the biker that was behind the incident?"
At that Percy shrugged again. "Never seen them before in my life."
The Director nodded though. That lined up with everything here. There was no way that the biker could have met the kid even if they were at the St Louis Arch at the same time. The guy had just used him as a convenient scapegoat when everyone else had started pointing fingers.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time. "Bad luck." Fury spoke.
"Bad luck." He repeated with a nod. "Was there a point to all this?" Perseus questioned, his eyes flicking to the outside world. It was still raining and thunder rumbled every now and then but there was no more lightning.
Fury did not answer. "The past four years, where were you?"
The expression on the young adult darkened ever so slightly but then returned to his expression of neutrality
Fury had his guesses. Military perhaps. Though there were no records of Perseus ever enlisting, the standard contract and obligation when one did so was four to five years. It was a long shot but an easy explanation.
"I was traveling with some family, on my dad's side."
"For four years?"
"We had a lot of stops along the way."
"Like where?"
"San Francisco, Ontario, Norfolk, Fort Sumter, Gibraltar, Rome. Athens." Percy shrugged and looked away. "The works. We hit everything else in Europe on the way back."
Huh. He had not expected that. He had expected him to continue to give evasive and general answers but not a whole itinerary.
Fury's phone buzzed. "Excuse me." Fury stood and moved to the bar that divided the kitchen with the living area.
He answered the increasingly irate phone. "This is Fury."
Coulson's voice was immediately heard. "Sir, the Tesseract. Its acting…weird."
Even if his words didn't spur the Director into action, it was the concerned tone in which he said it, Coulson was like him in that regard and didn't usually give in to his emotions. "I'm on my way."
Fury killed the line and turned to the young adult that was arranging the stuffed animals like an audience. It was odd to say the least, he had totally forgotten about the animals, given that they were all arranged in a haphazard circle only moments before. To see a young adult mess with stuffed toys made him look normal.
Maybe he was just overreacting and jumping at nothing.
It wouldn't be the first time Fury had done so but he had to be sure. There was simply something about the kid in front of him that rubbed him the wrong way.
So far he had been forthcoming with information and given the issue at hand it was best not to dally any longer. "Give it to me straight kid and satisfy this old man's curiosity, should I have any cause to worry about you?"
There was a slight pause in the actions of Perseus as he considered the words of the Director. After a moment, he waved a dismissive hand in his direction. "I am not a threat."
Fury blinked.
And blinked.
And blinked again.
I am not a threat. The words were said with such surety that Fury had no choice but to believe him.
"I am just a kid with some bad luck." Perseus waved his dismissive hand in his direction again as the other continued to arranged the animals.
"I guess you are." The Director said, blinking again but Fury was not so easily swayed. His mind was not so easily lulled by some words from the young adult in front of him. "I believe you. Don't get in any trouble and stay away from St Louis and you won't be hearing from me anymore." The Director held out his hand.
Perseus stood up and crossed the distance easily and the Director cocked his head. Was he just seeing things or did the kid get a little shorter, maybe even scrawnier? He did look a little pale and his face was devoid of scars. Fury could have sworn that he had a couple before.
"If I go back to the Arch, it'll only be too soon." He shook the proffered hand and escorted the Director of SHIELD out of his apartment.
The Director made a mental note to keep an eye on the kid. He may not be a threat something still rubbed Fury the wrong way. But for now, he had other matters to attend to and luckily a Quinjet would be able to get him across the country in a couple of hours.
The Son of Poseidon sighed to himself as he looked out the window of the cab.
Rain pattered down on the cab but it was soothing to listen to. After that talk with the government agent, he needed to get his mind off things. Ferns and pines rolled by along waving hills.
Which turned out to come in the form of bringing Calypso to the mortal world for the first time. Sally had wanted to talk about where he was and he had told the truth… for the most part, a lot of it were lies and glorified events of what actually happened. Though he left out the details of the war and had lied about how Annabeth was doing.
Percy couldn't bring himself to say that she had died. If that happened he would be forced to relive all the horrors of their last moments together. It was hard enough already lying to his own mom about it. Someone he told everything to.
Telling her the truth about what happened during the war would break her.
And the last thing he wanted for her was to be hurt and horrified about her own son.
So after assuring her that the man in the trench coat would not be bothering them anymore, curtesy of the liberal application of the Mist, he had set out to go and get Calypso, telling Sally that a friend from the war had wanted to get out of camp.
That was until a pillar of silver flashed beside him. That only meant one thing.
"Lady Artemis." He simply stated. "Shouldn't you be with your Hunt right now?" Percy's eyes were forward and he had noticed that the eyes of the cab driver had glazed over in the rear-view mirror. He kept driving but did not seem to take notice of the Goddess that appeared in the seat to the demigod's immediate left.
He didn't bow. He was beyond bowing before them now. That respect was only reserved to a select few individuals on the Council after the incident in the Throne Room two years prior.
And he only bowed to Zeus because he was King and nothing more.
Besides, how was he going to bend the knee while sitting in an already cramped cab?
"Perseus." She returned his greeting. She didn't seem to mind his lapse in respect. The demigod didn't even regard her with a glance.
"I take it this isn't a social call?" Why else would the Goddess of the Hunt be here? She had better things to do than play messenger. "The Council isn't happy is it?" His gaze was cast out to the window beside him. He watched the rain race across the glass.
When were they?
Artemis looked out the window opposite of her doing much the same as the Demigod beside her.
"No, they are not."
Percy didn't miss the way she stressed the word. Was she not including herself in that? At most she simply appeared to be indifferent at the moment. Granted, she probably wanted to be anywhere else than be here.
"What's going on?"
"The mortal man that you spoke to not a few hours ago. He is prying where his kind should not be." She spoke plainly.
"He doesn't suspect anything." Percy felt the need to defend the person that was most likely only doing his job. It wasn't the guy's fault for taking notice of any inconsistences the Mist left back all those years ago. "I made sure of it."
"Had you not, we would be having a different conversation." Artemis conceded but hesitated on her next words. "The Queen was most insistent that he be dealt with immediately and my father was inclined to agree but your creative use of the veil stayed their hands."
Why was the Queen getting involved in regards to him?
Sure, she may have been one of the outliers that openly supported his actions but there was no need for her to be involved in something as mundane as a curious mortal.
He strayed his mind away from that. It wasn't any of his business getting involved in that more than he needed to. If the Queen felt it prudent to waste her time smiting a simple mortal then who was he to question, let alone stop her?
"That can't be all you're here for." Percy guessed. They could've had Iris or one of Hermes' little helpers pass along the message. No, there was something more going on.
She turned her gaze to the idle hands on her lap. "Two years ago, there was an anomaly in the southwestern region of North America, not unlike a godly presence. However, the war with the Primordial Goddess being waged, our attention was elsewhere as she was the most pressing matter to deal with." She took a breath. "It was not there long. A couple days at most before it disappeared and that was the end of that."
Given why she was here and the nature of her explanation, it was not hard to determine that whatever this presence was had returned. He voiced as much. "I have a feeling you are going to say that this presence is back?"
She nodded and smiled slightly at his deduction. "The presence is similar and now with the war over, we can investigate it fully."
"And you want me to do that?"
Artemis conjured a manila folder and set it in between them. He made no indication that he would grab it nor did he even acknowledge its presence. "Zeus has requested that you take this mission."
Request…order...when it came from the King of Olympus, the two were one and the same.
He hated that he was most likely going to have to break his promise to Calypso. Percy hoped that considering the circumstances, he wasn't exactly in a position to say no to the Olympians.
That didn't mean he had to like it though.
"Any other details I should know about?" Percy sighed as he absentmindly grabbed the folder.
"The Council has given you leave to divinely travel to Europe temporarily. I was told to make it expressly clear that you do not abuse this power and to return to the West as soon as you finish." To reinforce her point, thunder rumbled ominously overhead as the cab continued to drive onwards. "Do not bring this being to or near Olympus. Get them alone and ascertain their intentions. Should this being prove…uncooperative…death would be preferable but it will not be expected."
He didn't acknowledge her words as he thumbed through the folder. It was more of an itinerary than a profile. Just a lead, and he was supposed to work from there
Stuttgart, Germany. A rather nice hotel with a great view. It seemed like they were trying to treat him to a vacation but considering that they sent an Olympian to deliver the mission rather than a wind-spirit or the Oracle, it could not be anything but an important matter.
Her presence only reinforced the idea that this was not something to be taken lightly.
Percy internally shrugged. He had less to work off of before. Finding whoever this was wouldn't be too hard. Divine beings tended to leave a mark wherever they went so tracking them down wouldn't be anything difficult.
"Remember Perseus." She ominously began and it was at that did Percy look towards the Goddess of the Hunt, regarding her fully for the first time she entered his presence. Silver moonlit eyes met a vibrant sea green gaze. The cab stopped and veered to the side of the road. "Olympus is watching." She disappeared in a pillar of silver moonlight.
Artemis missed the way his eyes flashed in anger at the parting words.
Nick Fury grimaced at the sight of the sinkhole. A horrid reminder of what happened.
One of his best agent's compromised.
One of the greatest minds SHEILD had at their disposal, melted and subservient as if he didn't have a mind in the first place.
The Tesseract, the greatest artefact available to SHIELD and Humanity, stolen and gone into the wind.
He needed the Avengers.
The Security Council would never okay it though. In their eyes heroes took the backburner to dedicated military forces. And Fury saw a point to that. The world needed to prepare and not be coddled or held by the hand.
In the meantime, however, they were not ready. That was what the Avengers were for. A short term solution to a problem that would take decades to produce the beginnings of any tangible results from.
He had his doubts on whether they would be enough though. There was a reason that the idea was scrapped in the first place. Teams were just that…teams. A handful of people with extraordinary ability and talent, yes but only a handful.
It was not even a fool-proof plan. A lot of the candidates did not play well with others. Especially Tony.
Because they were just that. People. People with different morals, ideals and thoughts of their own.
This was not a place of singular heroes.
And he needed an army to protect Earth while it prepared for the dangers that lurked in the void above.
Well, except for Veers. Err. Danvers. Whatever. His mind winced at the thought of the Captain but he shook it off. Should he call her in?
The SHIELD Director quickly determined that the answer to that particular question was no. There was no guarantee that she would even get here in time. Much less, respond, or God Forbid, dead. But he doubted much could hurt the enhanced woman.
He winced again at the thought.
No, Fury was now of the of the opinion that he would need to drag the world, kicking and screaming if need be, to its senses. This was the time to do that.
But first, he needed to find the Tesseract.
And he needed to do it now.
'Out of the fires of desperation burn hope and solidarity.'
-Sharan Burrow