Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Chapter 2: Leave out all the rest
"You're sure this is completely safe, right?" Steve asked as he nervously adjusted his armor. His chest plate kept slipping despite all his efforts to secure it in place.
"Absolutely," Phil replied, passing the new camper a blue plumed helmet. "Well, mostly. We haven't had any casualties in at least three weeks. That's a camp record!" Steve felt his anxiety grow as he wondered for the millionth time what he'd gotten himself into.
To distract himself, Steve glanced around at the other campers who were also getting ready for Capture the Flag. The blonde teen from earlier was trying to cheer up the dark haired one, and based on the other teen's scowl he wasn't doing a very good job.
"Those two were Thor and Loki, right?" Steve asked. He watched the blonde exclaim something loudly only for the black haired one to respond with a cutting tone.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. They haven't really adjusted to camp life yet," Phil replied absently as he tried to organize random pieces of equipment. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know," Steve said, shrugging. "Loki just seems kind of familiar."
"Well, I would say he looks a little like his brother Nico diAngelo, but you don't really know Nico either," Phil said, frowning. Steve tilted his head as he turned the name 'Nico diAngelo' around in his brain. It sounded familiar…
Flashes of a brightly lit building, colorful games and a long zip line all presented themselves to Steve before disappearing just as quickly and leaving a throbbing headache. Steve grunted and leaned against a tree as he tried to make the pain go away.
"Hey, are you okay?" Phil rushed over looking concerned.
"Fine," Steve grit out through his teeth. He massaged his temples to try and make the pain subside. Phil gave him a long look and Steve tried to smile and reassure him. The older camper wasn't buying it.
"Go see Bruce. He's our medic," Phil ordered before jogging over to a group of campers who were struggling to adjust their armor. Steve sighed and stumbled to his feet to look for the son of Ares. He found him in a one-sided conversation with Tony, the exuberant inventor being the one doing all the talking. They both looked up as Steve approached them.
"Not looking so good there, hot shot," Tony said with a grin upon seeing Steve. Steve winced. Was it really that obvious?
"What's wrong, Steve?" Bruce asked, examining the son of Hermes for external wounds.
"Do you have anything for headaches?" Steve asked, gritting his teeth as the throbbing in his head intensified.
"I can try and find some Advil or ambrosia," Bruce replied, starting to dig through his bag.
"Advil?" Steve frowned, the word foreign on his lips. "Is that some kind of new medicine?" Tony and Bruce both froze and gazed at Steve with shock.
"Advil's been around since 1984, Steve," Bruce said slowly.
"Did you grow up under a rock?" Tony gaped at the embarrassed son of Hermes. "Gods, I hate to think about what kind of childhood you had without Advil." The son of Hephaestus shook his head. Steve cursed himself for his slip-up.
"Way to go, Steve," he muttered. Whatever happened to his earlier goal of seamlessly assimilating to the camp? He couldn't let any of the others know the truth or else…
"You say something?" Bruce asked, returning to his search.
"No," Steve replied, snapping out of his internal monologue.
"Anyways, here's some nectar," Bruce said, holding up a canteen of golden liquid. "Don't drink too much." Steve nodded gratefully and downed the liquid, tasting his mom's baking, and immediately felt his headache fade.
"So, why didn't you know what Advil was?" Tony asked, not about to let the earlier topic fade, much to Steve's dismay.
"I think I heard Phil say something," Steve lied quickly.
"I didn't hear anything," Tony protested, crossing his arms. "Hey! I'm talking to you don't ignore me!" It was too late, Steve was already striding away as fast as he could. "There's something wrong with that guy, and I'm gonna figure out what," he heard Tony say before he was out of range.
~~~~~The Forest~~~~~
"Alright, so since this is your first game," Phil was explaining. "We're just going to have you on guard duty. The fact that you have that huge shield will help." Steve nodded and resigned himself to the 'very important' job of guarding the flag, though a more accurate description might be 'sitting around and waiting on the off chance something actually happens'. He could hear yelling and fighting in the woods, but the closest battle was probably a hundred yards away.
"I can't believe I'm stuck with you two," Tony groused, sitting down heavily on a rock. "I NEVER get stuck on guard duty! The other campers will be lost without my genius battle strategies and weapons!" Steve rolled his eyes but wisely decided not to interject. He was rewarded when Tony decided to gripe to Bruce instead, as Steve was proving not to be very interesting.
"I'm glad we're guards," Bruce said lightly. "I don't really like fighting."
"That's not a very Ares-like thing to say," Tony teased. Bruce shifted uncomfortably, still a bit awkward about his parentage.
"It's not like I wanted the blessing in the first place," he protested. Tony rolled his eyes.
"I would be pretty happy if I suddenly had the ability to bulldoze a monster army without breaking a sweat. Instead what can I do? I build things. I mean, it was bad enough Leo took the magic tool belt with him, but now there's no one else to work with in the forges because Jake is incapacitated and the rest of the cabin still thinks there's a curse!"
"There has to be some kind of downside," Bruce reasoned, ignoring Tony's rant against his cabin mates. "I mean, look at Clarisse. She got the blessing too, and her aura was red. RED. My blessing is green. Tell me there isn't something at least a little off about that."
"Whatever, dude," Tony said, shrugging off Bruce's argument. "I'm just saying…" Steve found himself smiling at their conversation despite his best efforts at trying not to eavesdrop. He could hardly be blamed; Tony talked loud enough to wake every monster in the forest. Bruce's head suddenly shot up, startling the Hermes camper. He instinctively raised his shield.
"They're coming," Bruce muttered, nervously tugging at his armor.
"Oh, hells yes!" Tony cried, grinning. "Go out there and smash 'em up! Turn on your green aura blessing thing!" he said, pushing Bruce forward. Bruce protested loudly, though his cries fell on deaf ears. A group of red plumed warriors suddenly burst out of the trees about twenty feet away.
"Charge!" the leader yelled, rallying the other troops. The large group raced forward at the three defenders, brandishing their spears and swords.
With a sudden flash of light, Steve saw Bruce's entire demeanor change. The Ares camper's expression twisted to one of pure rage and a green aura shimmered into existence. Bruce drew his sword with a roar and advanced as well, taking on five advancing campers at once. Steve watched as the Ares camper swung his sword with immense power, sending one of the attackers flying into the trees.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Tony crowed, sitting back down on the rock and fiddling with a contraption he had strapped on his arm.
"What are you doing?! We need some help here!" Steve yelled, trying to guard the flag from the few who had slipped past Bruce. Unfortunately, while his shield proved to be a nice blockade, it didn't have many attack options.
"Don't be so uptight," Tony said, rolling his eyes while flipping random switches. "And… done!" The dark-haired teen grinned widely when the machine shot out a green bolt of Greek fire at advancing campers. Many of the attackers were forced to ditch their armor as the green flames clung to them. One of the younger ones ran around screaming while his helmet flamed. Tony found this all immensely amusing as he was doubled over laughing.
"Watch where you aim that thing!" Steve yelled. He'd barely managed to duck in time to avoid the blast. Tony gave him a cocky salute before firing the weapon repeatedly at other campers.
Steve ground his teeth together before attempting to knock other campers down using his shield. No matter how many he'd knock back with a blow, more seemed to pour out of the woods. Exhaustion was beginning to creep up on him and he hoped his team would claim the flag before their defense crumbled.
Suddenly, there was a loud yell and Steve watched someone fly over the camper's heads just before a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, scattering the other team's formation. Soon afterwards, the ground shook and cracked open allowing skeletal warriors to crawl out. The skeleton army engaged the red plumed campers, a dark purplish black flame swirling in each skeleton's empty eye sockets. The remaining campers on the other team beat a hasty retreat into the forest while yelling many unkind four letter words and glancing nervously over their shoulders to ensure the skeletons didn't follow.
"'Bout time you got here, Sparky," Tony grinned. Thor just looked confused.
"I do not understand that name, Man of Iron. I am called Thor," The son of Zeus replied.
" 'Man of Iron'?" Steve asked. Tony just rolled his eyes.
"It's 'cause I'm a son of Hephaestus," he responded.
"That was quite boring," Loki said, emerging from the woods with a frown on his face. The ground reopened to swallow the skeleton army. "They hardly put up a fight." Steve involuntarily shivered at the son of Hades' calm demeanor. When the last of the skeletons had disappeared from view, Bruce's green aura dimmed and he looked less likely to rip someone's head off.
"Shouldn't the game be over by now?" Bruce asked, frowning. Before anyone could respond, the horn conveniently blew in the distance to signify the capture of the other team's flag.
"Guess that answers that," Steve said, shrugging. The four blue team members jogged back to the dinner area to find a Nemesis camper holding the banner.
"Who's that?" Steve asked Bruce. The camper was African American, had shaved his head and wore an eye patch over his right eye.
"I think his name is Nick," the son of Ares replied, squinting at the figure. "He's a child of Nemesis." Steve just shivered at the cold look in the camper's eye. Despite the fact that he'd won the game for his team, Nick didn't look thrilled about it and he just radiated 'don't touch me' vibes.
"So what do we do now that it's over?" Steve wondered, glancing at the older campers.
"I guess you should just try and find Phil," Bruce replied, eyes roving over the dining pavilion.
"Do it fast," Tony grinned. "The harpies will be making their rounds soon." He nodded towards the growling cleaning harpies who bitterly eyed the campers. Steve gulped and said a quick goodbye to Tony and Bruce before scurrying off.
…Only to run right into Natasha.
"You just got lucky," she stated, eyes boring into Steve.
"H-huh?" came Steve's intelligent reply. She looked ready to disembowel someone.
"The win," she tilted her head in the direction of the dining area where Nick was being presented with laurels. "That was just luck. Don't get cocky."
"Y-yes, ma'am," Steve nodded vigorously. Natasha gave him one final glare before heading in the direction of the Athena cabin. Steve suppressed a small grin when he saw Clint meet the Athena camper halfway and receive a kick in the groin for his trouble.
"Looks like you're making friends fast!" Steve jumped as Phil suddenly materialized behind him. Said counselor just grinned at his response.
"Natasha was acting friendly?" Steve asked in a disbelieving tone. Phil nodded.
"Usually she either ignores the new campers or breaks their limbs," the counselor stated cheerfully. Steve internally groaned. The lighthearted scene was disrupted when they both heard a loud shriek from the dining pavilion. Phil and Steve didn't even need to look at each other before they both raced back to the crowded area, only to see the Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Dare, collapsed on the ground.
"What happened?" Phil questioned, already moving towards the fallen girl. He helped her sit up, but reeled backwards when green smoke poured from Rachel's mouth. Rachel sat stiffly and her eyes glowed an eerie green. Her voice sounded amplified and like multiple versions of herself was speaking at the same time.
"Seven more halfbloods must find the door's leaks,
In doing so, heal the rift between Romans and Greeks,
Alas, betrayal and secrets shall drive them apart,
All that remains of the seven is seven broken hearts."
As soon as Rachel finished delivering the prophecy, she fell back to the ground as Phil yelled for someone to bring water. Steve stood frozen, shaken by the unexpected prophecy. Or maybe it was the fact that she seemed to be staring straight at him when she delivered it.
Some of the other campers had also noticed how Rachel seemed to be talking to the new Hermes camper and began whispering while shooting him questioning glances. Steve was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely heard them. Perhaps that was how Tony managed to sneak up on him so easily.
"Well, that was a great welcome to camp, eh Steve?" Steve nearly let out a very unmanly noise when the son of Hephaestus slapped him on the back.
"I- er…" Steve babbled, trying to regain his senses.
"Oh, relax," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "She wasn't talking about you. Probably." Steve oddly was not reassured by this. His thoughts were apparently visible on his face as Tony smirked at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Unless you have something you'd like to share with the class, Steve?" Said son of Hermes tried not to stiffen as Tony would feel his hesitation. Was Tony right? Was his secret the reason the prophecy had been uttered?
Thankfully, Tony withdrew his arm and loped off to find Bruce, allowing Steve to relax. This probably wasn't the best time to let everyone know about THAT. Tony was probably right this time anyways, he was rather ordinary compared to most of the other campers. Fate couldn't possibly be sending him on a dangerous quest. Surely the universe didn't hate him that much…
A/N: Hello! :D Well, I wasn't really expecting all the kind reviews I got last time, so thank you for that! Also, thanks for all the suggestions you guys made! Hopefully I made the characters a little more in character this time, but I honestly really struggle with writing some of them (I'm looking at you Tony) so I'm sorry for any and all mistakes...
Do we actually have a plot now?! Did I actually come up with a rhyme?! Why can't this poetic skills come out in English class? :P Anyways, the story is actually moving forward and next chapter I hope to include some of our favorite Percy Jackson characters if we're lucky~
So anyways, please review! Reviews motivate me to continue writing the story! Tell me what you liked/didn't like/have suggestions for! Thanks! :D