Sally Jackson closed her eyes as she listened to the voice on the other end of the phone.

"I know," she said, but was interrupted by the other man on the other end. "Oh, shut up! I don't care that they're making your life harder, Anthony!"

Paul glanced up, frowning. Sally smiled at him tensely, then scowled at nothing in particular.

"I realize that they shouldn't be – what?! No, I didn't know they were eating pizza on the Leaning Tower of Pisa!"

Paul spewed his coffee across the table, but hastily wiped it up. His wife rubbed her forehead.

"Just… Please, Tony, don't do anything exceedingly dangerous." She sighed. "I don't want them involved in the affairs of SHIELD, you know what happens when they try recruiting demigods."

Paul blinked.

"I don't want to have coffee with you. Come over when they're here, so that they know the level of danger they're in." Sally paused for a moment. "Of course I know how dangerous it is, but try telling it to the two who have literally gone through Tartarus!"

Sally hung up the phone, pinching her nose.

"Trouble with your brother?" Paul asked, fixing his clean shirt.

"Yeah," Sally sighed. "Those two idiots went and ate pizza on the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And, according to Tony's little inventions, a Mist-maker that identifies anomalies and covers them up with Mist if they're clearly supposed to be legends, they were attacked by a HYDRA."

There was no doubt in Paul's mind that Sally – while she loved her two children – was tired of the constant stress. She swayed for a moment, and her hand slammed on the counter to steady her.

"Are you alright?" Paul asked worriedly.

Sally waved her hand.

"I'm fine, Paul. Just a bit of lightheaded-ness."

~:~

The rain lashed against the bus. Meda sat alone, feigning sleep as she stared out at the gloomy skies. Zeus must have been in a foul mood.

Her eyes swept over the devastation that had occurred during the alien invasion.

"Skye?" An excited, and only slightly familiar, voice met her ears.

She turned to look at the person who had spoken her name. She placed him – Jack Springs, mortal and a guy who'd had a crush on her during the last year she'd been at school – almost immediately.

"Oh. Hey, Jack." She returned her attention back to the outside, ignoring the guilt that pushed in her as Jack moved along, looking downtrodden.

What did you do to Jack?

Like I would want to date a mortal right now, she answered his unasked question. Especially one who doesn't address me right.

After all the hell they'd been through, she'd stopped going by 'Skye'. Now, it was Meda.

The bus stopped.

"Midtown High!"

Meda grabbed her backpack. The three had been scheduled for a makeup test every three days - until they graduated - at the school everyone called 'Nerd High'.

Paul had pulled quite a few strings.

Percy, Annabeth, and Meda stepped off the bus, glaring at the Nerd High.

"I wish we could've driven here," Annabeth muttered, looking as exhausted as the other two felt.

"Wishes are made of dreams," Percy murmured, putting his arm around Annabeth and Meda. "Ready to face evil students?"

"Meh," Meda grinned. "I think we've faced evil enough to face a bunch of teens."

There was a spark of a real grin in all three teens' smiles as they began walking to their first day of school in almost a year.

~:~

Peter blinked at the three teens.

"And the ones lucky enough to show these three around…" The teacher looked around the classroom. "Peter, Ned, and MJ! Pair up and show them around."

Peter mentally cheered. He really wanted to let this class end.

~:~

Meda was paired with Peter, who was endearing, if overly chatty about the school.

"Please, shut up." Peter blinked and shut up. "I just got back from Italy."

"You – took a vacation before coming to school?" Peter wondered, looking confused.

"It's a long story, but it was necessary," Meda nodded. "I think so, anyway." She saw the school's balcony. "It's really raining out there."

Peter glanced out. "Looks like Thor's back."

Meda jerked back as if stung. "What?"

"Oh, I'm an intern at Stark Industries," Peter said, mistaking her exclamation. "Thor, you know of Thor, right? He's like, the god of thunder?"

Thunder boomed, lightning striking the ground so far away but so close that the ground shook.

"Don't ever," Meda said through gritted teeth, "say that in front of me. I don't think he's a god."

Nervously, Meda looked up at the sky.

~:~

Annabeth was of the private opinion that as soon as they were briefed about the warning when they'df gotten home that morning and then sent to school without a rest that something was bound to happen there.

And of course, it did.

Lightning struck the ground somewhere near Midtown High, indicating that Zeus was not pleased about something.

She glanced over at Percy, whose gaze flicked to hers.

One of Hazel's powers from her mother had helped her and the Seven to maintain a mental connection; this required consent on all sides, and Annabeth allowed him into her mind even as she looked away. An act of trust on her part.

Parker mentioned that Thor was back. Could this be why Zeus looked so occupied at the last meeting?

Don't know. I could give my cousin a call – son of Frey and all that.

Her cousin, Magnus Chase, had defeated a giant from another realm, dying while doing so. Long story short, Magnus was now an einherjar, an undead warrior. Of course, being that he'd reclaimed the Sword of Summer, put a stop to the Rag-thing (Annabeth was so tired she resorted to using Jackson-terms) Loki was trying to pull, insulted Loki (and Loki had gotten off easy, punished by Odin in some obscure way. Of course, that was during the months Annabeth had been searching for clues to Percy's and Meda's whereabouts) and generally brought an end to the conflict before it could affect everything else.

She'd also heard that Loki had been the one responsible for destroying half of New York this past summer – and Thor's ascension had been cut by Loki. Annabeth had taken those as rumors, but she was regretting it now.

He might not know, though. The gods aren't known for sharing despite their flashy ways.

Good point.

~:~

Meda got off the bus before Percy and Annabeth did, choosing to go check out the tree in case that was Thor's strike – this was Greek territory, and she wasn't going to permit someone such as a Norse demigod-slash-god to ruin the work they'd done.

When she got to the charred tree, there was a stream of rainbow colors.

Meda withdrew her sword, placing it on the back of the cloaked being.

"So, you're Thor." Thor stiffened. "And you're on Greek territory, Norse. You best have a good explanation."

"Zeus allows me to stay with my allies –" the demigod began, only to stop as Meda snorted.

"New York hasn't gotten this much rain since I was twelve, Thor. So speak."

She withdrew her sword, but kept it at the ready.

Thor turned.

"I need Loki's help, and the only way to do that is to get Loki from the Greeks."

Meda stared at him. "Are you stupid?!" she yelled at him, sheathing her sword and clenching her fists. "You left your brother to be imprisoned by my family?!" She shook her head and looked up. "Oh, you're stupid. Let's go after your brother."

"You're not coming, fair maiden."

"If you need Loki," Meda said, irritation made clear by her hand on her sword, "you're going to need me to get in." There was a pond a few feet away. "We're going through my domain, though." At his confused look, she pointed towards the water. "Daughter of Poseidon, we're going through water."

She started walking, keeping a hand on her sword, not trusting the foolish Norse.