Chapter 16
Tony
"His uncle makes the higher orders... Nice," Tony said, not quite as surprised as he probably should have been.
"Yeah..." Steve replied. "But I need to talk to him about something, so please, if you see him when he comes back, tell him to meet me here."
"Are you kicking us out?" Natasha asked mockingly while raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, our dear captain, are you?" Tony said, playing along.
"I'm feeling quite offended over here," Clint added dramatically.
"Don't even get me started with the pain it causes me," Bruce said and put the back of his hand on his forehead.
"Yes, of course I am kicking you out. You're all insufferable and this is my glorious private place. Except for Percy, but he never bothers me and at least puts the gym to great use." At this point, Steve had everyone almost at the gym's door.
Tony suddenly spread his arms wide, blocking the door for everyone.
"I'm not leaving until you tell us what you want to talk to Percy about." Everyone thought about it for a second and seemed to decide if was worth a shot.
Natasha stood near Tony and crossed her arms. "What is so secret that you can't tell us, Captain?" she asked.
"It's nothing," he replied elusively.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I just didn't know that 'nothing' also meant 'hiding things from my team'. My bad," she said sarcastically.
"No, but seriously, what is it?" Bruce asked curiously.
"For Drama Queen, also known as Natasha, it's nothing important for you. It's about his technique. I want to know where he learned this and why, because let's face it: he's good. But you can't tell me his mama taught him how to wrestle when he was five, or that he learned something so deeply because knives are pretty. No, if you saw him then you know he learned it for something serious, maybe- and probably- for self-defense, so I want to know what was he training to defend himself from."
"Fine. But then tell us what he said," Natasha asked of him.
"Yes, of course I will," Steve answered almost offended.
"Oh, and also ask him his opinion on war. He said some suspicious things, like being, and I quote, 'done with war'. He also said that us knowing all about him without enough trust could cause a war, so we can understand that he is important in an aspect we don't yet know. We can guess it's something relating his family considering the fact that 'his uncle makes the higher orders', and 'higher' is more than SHIELD," Tony added. Everyone looked at him strangely. "What?"
"With your superior stupidity and egocentricity, I tend to forget you're actually a genius," Steve answered him.
"Well duh."
"I want to ask him something too," Bruce piped in. "And, before you ask, it's nothing relating war. I want to know why he gave everyone a job but me. Did he forget or am I just useless?" He asked half jokingly and half serious.
"I, by no means, meant to offend you," a voice said from the windowsill.
It was evidently funny for Percy to watch his teammates jump in surprise at his sudden apparition, save Natasha who was basically a stealth goddess and noticed him arriving.
Tony called his suit, Steve positioned himself for a hand-to-hand combat, Clint took a bow, Thor called his hammer, and Bruce just looked freaked out. Natasha only rested lightly against the wall and checked her nails.
"Hi," Percy said with an innocent smile in his lips.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Stark accused indignantly. "But I still don't think it's fair that you can go out while we're locked in here." He pouted.
"Oh, believe me, it's necessary, and not exactly fun," Percy answered, ignoring the accusation. "Going back to you, Bruce... Well, I want to apologize if I made you think you were useless in any way," he said looking a little sheepish. "I intended to show them self-control with you, the one I spoke about with Natasha... You should know it doesn't work the same if I tell you in advance..."
Bruce nodded, visibly relaxing. "Now we can't do it, then."
"Yeah, but I couldn't let you there thinking you were useless when you aren't." The teen shrugged.
And even if Percy dismissed it, the team couldn't help but notice how considerate his words were.
Before anyone could say anything, however, Tony intervened, "Who wants pizza?"
.ψψψ.
Tony ordered five large pizzas that the team soon finished. They were meant to be eaten during the movies they were planning to see but Oh Well.
"And then he told me that I am 'not his type' like what the fuck dude? I'm everyone's type," Percy was telling the Avengers. He flipped his inexistent hair to prove his last statement.
"Oh, for a moment I thought you'd say something homophobic and I was ready to put you in your place," Tony said offhandedly.
"No!" Percy said indignantly. "I myself swing both ways." He turned around and winked at Thor, who was the only one who would understand it was a joke.
"Ohhh, little Percy's got a crush!" Clint said mockingly.
"Don't say that!" he replied faking anger. "Not out loud... My fiancée could get jealous."
"I always forget you're engaged..." Steve commented.
"Might be the fact that he's seventeen fucking years old," Tony said.
"Language."
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes.
"So," Percy intervened and clapped his hands once. "Finding Nemo?" Everyone laughed. Percy looked utterly confused at this. "What?"
"Wait, you meant it seriously?" Bruce asked amused and surprised.
"Of course I did, it's an extraordinary film. It has an accurate representation of sharks, which I have seen in very few movies. Also, I like fish." He made a smile that made him resemble a child.
The avengers gave in to his cuteness.
Major mistake.
"Blue lollipops!"
"Finding Dory!"
"Blue cookies!"
"Blueeeee!"
Yep, big mistake; they were now locked in a loop of blue whims. Oh, but was he adorable with those baby seal eyes.
Until...
"Guys, I'm tired, I'll go to sleep already," Percy said suddenly, stunning everyone. A minute he was laughing and telling jokes, and then the next he was yawning excessively and looking as if he would drop asleep any second.
Percy tried to stand up but stumbled, a panicked expression making its way to his face and contrasting greatly with the tiredness. He tried to walk away quickly and this time he fell down. He kept trying to get away, though, crawling slowly in four legs. It was odd for everyone looking to say the least, and it was the first time ever that the Avengers saw something about Percy surprise the thunder god.
The boy stopped moving as he fell asleep, and the team was surprised to hear him whimper not five seconds into that state.
"What the-! Look!" Clint said all of a sudden and pointed at Percy's side, where a huge cut had appeared out of nowhere. Blood started to leak from the wound in masses, but Percy barely made a sound. More injuries started to appear and the team only stared frozen. Natasha was the first to come back from the shock and jumped to help the boy; the rest stayed watching until a quiet complaint made them come out of their stupor too.
They all circled the boy with varying degrees of utility: Tony was trying to find the wounds' source, Bruce was trying to tend them, Steve tried to get his teammates anything they needed, Clint looked lost, Natasha stayed aside thinking intently, and Thor had apparently disappeared.
"Quick, move!" came the god's voice from the door and, even if they were confused, they complied.
A loud splash was heard exactly a second after the three moved from around the boy. Percy tensed and then relaxed, but stayed asleep. He was completely dry even after being soaked with a bucket of water, but that wasn't what surprised them. What caught the team's attention was the way his injuries started disappearing and his broken bones sealed back together, which was equally fascinating and nauseating.
But the Avengers didn't have time to be impressed, as new and worse injuries started appearing on him again.
They all watched in horror as the boy suffered from cuts, broken bones, whip lashes, burns, stab wounds, dislocated articulations and other things that were much too strong to even be mentioned. They couldn't do anything, though, since he wasn't able to wake up and water just made the next wounds be worse as a kind of punishment. They took him to the medical wing, but there was nothing they could do but watch.
Percy
Tartarus intentions that night were apparently to humiliate him by making him look vulnerable. How fun.
"Looking nervous, I see. What is it that made you that way, little demigod? Scared of your puny mortal team discovering you are not as powerful as you make yourself seem? Or... Oh, they didn't know yet? What a pity..." Tartarus said, but the smile on his lips told Percy that he wasn't in any way feeling pity towards him. "So, what else now? We have done the warm up already... Maybe we could have a little fun with your... friends..." His smile grew, and so did Percy's dread.
"You said you'd leave them alone," he answered, but the blood loss made him sound weak and almost pathetic.
"Oh, no, I'm talking about your other friends, the ones who call themselves 'Avengers'..."
"No, please leave them alone..." he pled, but his words mixed with coughs that added blood to the puddle were he laid.
"How about... No?"
And so the emotional torture began. He spent around two hours watching himself maim his friends. First it was Steve with a whip, then Tony with a knife, then Natasha with bare hands (which didn't make it any better, considering he watched himself break her neck), then Thor with Riptide, then Bruce with a spear and lastly Clint with his own bow, using his newfound talent.
This time, however, there was a big difference. Tartarus also made his team (a scary semi-dead and revengeful version of it) torture him, which could shatter their trust and produce a trauma. Lucky for him, Percy now had a somewhat stronger mind, courtesy of his godhood. It didn't make it a lot better anyway.
When it was finally over and he woke up, he could barely move, but he realized he wasn't in his room. He sensed people around him, probably his team, and panic took over at the thought of any of what Tartarus made him see being true.
"Did I hurt any of you? Please tell me I didn't. Is everyone alright?" he said in between coughs and he was quickly surrounded by six people.
"Oh, gods!" said a voice that Percy recognized as Thor's, and a moment later water covered him.
Now healthier, he kept on asking. "Are you fine? I didn't hurt you, did I? How can I help?" Percy was desperate, he needed to know. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he had killed or even injured them in the slightest.
"No, Percy, you didn't, it's fine." Again, it was the god who tried to soothe him. At this answer, the former demigod relaxed and took a look around. It seemed he had been taken to a kind of hospital at the tower, since everything was white and there were doctor thingies all around the place.
"Percy..." Bruce started, and the alluded snapped his gaze towards him. He was utterly surprised to find concern lacing his features instead of suspicion or demand for answers. He looked at everyone else, and their expressions were identical: worry. It was that exact moment that he knew it was time to tell them.
Percy sighed. "Ok, guys, I think I owe you an explanation..."