Chapter 2
Despite his best efforts Tony couldn’t rid his mind of the ridiculously good looking Doctor. No matter how many people he took home, he was not able to follow through without feeling sick. After a few failed attempts he gave up on bedding anyone else.
He tried distracting himself with his work instead. Pepper was overjoyed he was finally involving himself in not only making new projects but also dutifully attending all his meetings, that too without complaint. She soon became suspicious about how docile he was being.
His dilemma was not helped by the subject of his attention.
Percy, in a short while, grew very popular in Atlantis Industries. Tony had no doubt about his abilities so he wasn’t very surprised. What irritated him was that Percy was becoming increasingly popular even in mainstream media because of all the charity work he was heading. He apparently was interested in even conserving wildlife and raising money for supporting people with mental disorders. He was literally too good for the paparazzi to let go - young, brilliant and charitable.
All this fame made Percy impossible to forget so Tony just grew more and more miserable.
Pepper finally had enough of his moping and confronted him about it.
“Seriously Tony, what is wrong with you?” Pepper asked one evening cornering him in his lab
Tony looked desperately around for any sort of escape before sighing and putting his tools down.
Oblivious is the way to go, he decided. “What?”
“You have attended all your meetings in the past month,did not protest at all when roped in to help with what you call unimportant tasks and I have not shooed anyone from your bedroom in weeks. If you weren’t looking so dejected, I’d be jumping in joy” Pepper said listing all his ‘symptoms’ on onehand “ So at least tell me why you are sulking so that I can fix it because even Marcus has noticed you are not yourself.”
It really couldn’t get worse Tony thought. If he was going to suffer through his not crush he might need to enlist his cavalry.
“So, um.. There is this man, and…” Tony looked up trying to gauge her expression
She was still looking at him expectantly “And?”
“And now I can’t stop thinking about him..” He mumbled defeated
Pepper being well versed in Tonyspeak heard him and put her hands on her waist.
“You mean to tell me that this 3 month long melodrama is because of a crush?”
“It’s not a Crush!”
“Oh sure, do tell me what it is then”
“It...I...He is everywhere, I can’t stop thinking about him and he..he is like perfect..Oh god..” Tony sat down “It is a crush…”
“And a very serious one by the sounds of it” Pepper said sitting down next to him and patting his back “You really like this person don’t you?”
Tony just nodded putting his head in his hands
“Then why don’t you ask him out? What is the issue?”
“I messed up Pepper. Last time we met, I think I liked him and I got scared so I acted like what we did didn’t matter to me much and I think I hurt him. Why would he give me a chance now?”
“Look at it this way, now you are miserable and you don’t know where this can go. If you try, best case scenario you get to see where this might go and worst case scenario you know it is hopeless and all of us can get back to our lives.”
Tony looked at Pepper with awe
“You are brilliant, you know?”
“Yeah yeah, and you would probably be stuck here forever without me, we all know.” Pepper got up and straightened her skirt. “I expect this issue to be resolved within 2 weeks” She said walking out.
“You can’t put a deadline on something like this!” Tony yelled
“I can do whatever I want” She yelled back
Tony thought the best way to begin would be to try and meet Percy 'accidentally’. Tony started looking at the charity events and parties thrown by Atlantis Industries. Percy apparently attended these at least once a week so he had 2 meetings to make a good impression and get a date. Getting an invite itself wasn’t hard.
Once at the party he couldn’t bring himself to go talk to the black haired man casually drifting between groups of people smiling and laughing with them.
“Ah, Tony you made it.” Tony turned around and was met with the imposing figure of Daniel Olympian. “I didn’t think these were your kind of events so I was very surprised when Stark Tech not only expressed their interest in donating but also accepted our invitation. I was expecting Virginia at most but imagine my surprise when none other than Tony Stark graced us with his presence”
Tony was determined not to get flustered.
“What can I say Daniel, your new recruit has made quite the name for himself. I had to see what was so different about him”
Daniel laughed and put his hand around Tony’s shoulder. Come to think of it, Daniel’s eyes were the same shade of sea green as Percy’s down to the way they seemed to swirl with his moods.
Daniel steered him through the crowd towards the very man he was trying to talk to.
“Percy my boy” Daniel greeted “meet Tony Stark. He has apparently heard of your abilities and wanted to meet you himself.”
Percy turned and froze for a moment before smiling warmly at him “Nice to meet you again Tony”
“You two have met before?” Daniel asked confused
“Yes dad, Tony had offered me a job before I came here” Percy said
Dad? Tony was shocked. Percy’s dad who had offered him a job to work at Atlantis Industries was none other than Daniel Olympian?
“Dad?” Tony asked
“Oh yes, though it is not common knowledge, this fine young man here is my child” Daniel said, patting Percy’s back with a proud smile “And hopefully one day he will lead Atlantis in my stead along with his brother”
Tony sensed some underlying meaning to that statement.
“I better leave you both to get better acquainted , gentlemen” Daniel nodded at both of them before walking away
“THAT was your FATHER?”
Percy rubbed the back of his neck in that endearing way of his and Tony felt himself relaxing despite himself.
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal frankly. And I didn’t want the additional fame that came with being an Olympian” Percy said and Tony felt like there was a joke there that he didn’t get.
“No of course it isn’t a big deal, just like my father being Howard Stark isn’t a big deal” Tony said sarcastically.
“I have seen the struggles you have to face just because you were known as a Stark and I have no interest in my dirty laundry being aired like that.”
“So there is dirty laundry to be aired?”
“You know what I mean”
“Do I?”
Percy huffed and looked at him
“Really what are you doing here Tony?”
Tony deliberated his question for a minute before answering “What your father said, I wanted to meet you”
Percy gave him a long look before nodding. “You did say you’d see me around”
Tony managed to get his number that evening to ‘keep in touch’ and he counted that as a win. He also managed to go on 3 dates without telling Percy that they were dates. As far as the other man was concerned, they were just 2 friends hanging out. And Tony was in no hurry to change that misconception. For once he was happy to get to know another person and his destination wasn’t the two of them in a bed. If he wasn’t so happy, he’d be worried.
“This is serious isn’t it?” Pepper asked one day
“I think so..yeah” Tony said, not even trying to deny the fact.
“Can I atleast have his name?”
“You are going to run background checks aren’t you?”
“Somebody’s got to look out for you Tony”
“Perseus Jackson, actually Dr. Perseus Jackson”
Pepper nodded and stood up
“Just don’t...don’t tell me anything. As long as he is not trying to kill me or someone is trying to kill him, don’t tell me anything you find”
“I think it’s high time I talk to him” was Pepper’s response.
Tony really should have told him the truth when he had the chance. In between the avengers and capturing the god of mischief, Tony didn’t have time for their ‘not dates’.
He was glad to see that Percy also was missing him if his frequent and worried texts were anything to go by. After Loki’s escape and Coulson’s death Tony couldn’t help but call him just to get some comfort.
“Gods, Tony what happened?” Percy sounded tense “the news mentioned something about a satellite or a freak meteorite exploding to explain the explosions but that explanation is vague enough for me to know that something completely different took place, Tony please, are you okay?”
Tony let out a shuddering sob. The amount of worry in that tone was enough to warm him even through the grief he felt.
“I.. I am okay. But Co..Coulson, He..He is gone Percy, He is gone...”
“Hey, listen to me Tony, it’s not your fault. He-”
“HOW COULD YOU KNOW?” Tony interrupted suddenly angry
“Because I know you Tony, and I know you would have done your best.” Percy said in the same loving tone as if Tony didn’t just shout at him.
“And if I am not mistaken, then something else has gone wrong and from the way the news channels are advising all of us to stay inside, whatever is coming is coming fast. Right now Tony you don’t have the luxury to break down. You must remain level headed and try to fix whatever this is. You will have time for the rest later on.”
Tony nodded along, taking strength from his surprisingly wise words.
“Thank you Percy.”
“Come back in one piece and that will be thanks enough. I am serious Tony, be careful.”
Tony wanted to say I love you.
The fight was brutal, it was easy to lose hope. Yet he saw normal people braving danger to help others who were trapped or vulnerable. He saw hundreds of Police officers evacuate the city taking orders from a Captain they knew only from comic books and trusting him to do what is right. He saw people standing outside collapsed houses looking at it go up in flames. By all rights they should be devastated and they were, yet finding strength to point at a gold and red armour and smile like it was going to be alright.
Like some blessing other super powered individuals were also helping them reduce casualties and property damage. It was amazing to see how the impromptu team of Avengers worked seamlessly with the , well for lack of better word, mutants.
There was a group in some type of battle armour that were significantly reducing Chitauri numbers and Tony was very glad about all the help they could get.
Soon they realised that as long as the portal remained open it was only a matter of time before they were overrun .As soon as he knew what to do, the only thing he could think of was how he wouldn’t get to express his gratitude to Percy after all. He just hoped Percy was safe
Jarvis’ calm voice disturbed his reverie
“Shall I call Dr.Jackson, sir?”
“You might as well”
The call rang but it did not connect. It went into voice mail
“Hey Percy, by the time you receive this I’ll probably be gone too. I just wanted to say thank you for all that you have done for me and I am very sorry for letting you leave my bed that day with nothing more than ‘see you again’. I guess I won’t be able to thank you properly after all because coming back in one piece is seeming less and less likely….It is beyond selfish of me to say this now but I love you Percy.”
That message felt incomplete but Tony felt that was fitting.That was his last thought as darkness seeped into his vision blurring the view of the vast space before him.