A/N: Guys. Great news. I updated in exactly a week this time. Woo! Also, this chapter is pretty long, so enjoy. My poor child, Percy. (I'm laughing evilly right now.)

Disclaimer: What's cooler than being cool? I don't know, but I still don't own this stuff.

Chapter Three

Percy's punishment for sneaking out sucked, all things considered. Not only did they post a guard outside his door, but he also had to stay overnight in the hospital. Although he probably would've had to do that anyway. He almost complained that he was fine, but stopped when he saw Fury's face. He agreed reluctantly to it.

What he would not, under any circumstances, agree to was drugs to "help him sleep" tonight.

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" Percy asked Fury and Nice Nurse rhetorically as she prepped a dosage. "I'm not stupid. You're just putting that in me so you can make sure I'll behave. Trust me, I think I've hurt myself enough today, I'm not gonna go see them." Percy's heart ached just thinking about it.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you won't go see them again," Fury said. "But it's up in the air if you try and escape this hospital to go back home or to the tower."

Percy considered it. He did have a point. "I wouldn't do that," Percy denied, but it sounded weak even to him.

Fury made a gesture like Percy had agreed whole-heartedly that he would escape. "This is why you're getting the sleeping aid."

Percy sighed. "I really, really don't think it's a good idea. Seriously. Escaping aside."

Fury looked at him seriously. "It'll be a deep sleep, Percy. You'll wake up and not know that you even went to sleep."

"Somehow, I have a hard time believing that," Percy mumbled. "Past experience and all."

Nice Nurse frowned. "I'm not getting that into you any time soon, am I?" she asked, handing him a cup of water. She flicked her curly dark hair out of her eyes.

Percy shook his head as he drank it. "Not likely," he told her. He drank about half the cup before setting it back down.

"They're going to make you stay overnight tomorrow at the very least, too," Fury informed Percy, who groaned. "To run tests and see if they can come up with a solution to the…problem with you."

"Fan-freaking-tastic," Percy muttered sarcastically. His eyelids were beginning to droop. "I can't believe this is happening. How could they not remember me?" he heard himself say. Then he blinked. He hadn't meant to say that. His eyelids got heavier. He blinked again and didn't open his eyes.

He felt the Nice Nurse lady push him back against the pillows and pull the covers over him. Percy sighed.

The cup of water had definitely been drugged. Sadly enough, it seemed like something his team would do if it would help him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Percy slept fitfully, even with the sleeping drug. He wasn't surprised when he was finally able to jolt out of a nightmare that he was drenched in sweat.

He glanced at his clock, which blinked 5:02 at him every second or so. He blew out a breath and leaned back against the pillows, trying to slow his heartbeat. He wouldn't be getting any more sleep any time soon. He pulled himself up in bed.

He really needed to talk to that Exacter woman. If he was going to learn anything, it would be from her. And he needed to do it now. Percy slipped out of his bed and tried to inconspicuously glance out of the small window in his door. His guard was sitting in a chair, looking very much alert.

Percy pulled back and leaned against the wall to think. He looked around the room for anything that might be a distraction before his eyes alighted on the cup of drugged water on his nightstand. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards in a smile against his will.

Five minutes later, he was leaning a sleeping guard back against his chair so he wouldn't fall. Percy was a little proud of his idea to transform the drugged water into a gaseous state so the guard could breathe it in. Taking the guy's ID so he could get into the cell, Percy jogged to the elevator and pressed the basement floor. He figured that that was the only place SHIELD would put her, if she was even in the building at all. She was probably in here in case the doctors wanted to run a test on her blood to see if she had hidden the solution in her bloodstream or something equally unlikely and farfetched that might help the world's saviors.

The doors didn't make a happy ding when they opened like they did back at the tower; they simply slid smoothly open. Percy stepped off and slid to a dark corner. He bit his lip. How exactly he was going to do this was the question. He wasn't sure if she would even be awake or if there were guards around her door. He was hoping that just the ID would work.

He started to walk down the empty hallway, getting an uneasy sense of déjà vu as he glanced in each room for the person he wanted to find. Percy walked so far down the hall that he was beginning to think that all the cells were empty when he saw a tangle of hair through a window he just passed. Checking down the hall both ways—why weren't there guards?—he waved the guard's ID in front of the scanner and carefully opened the door.

The Exacter's head didn't lift even after he closed the door. Percy knew instinctively she wasn't asleep, so he guessed she wanted to be dramatic. Or intimidate him.

But there was a problem. Percy wasn't intimidated, especially not when she was in manacles in a chair. No, Percy was mad.

He clenched his fists as he saw her smile slightly. He was wrong. He wasn't mad—he was livid.

"Enjoying your stay here?" Percy asked her tightly. "I knew the rooms were nice here, but I wasn't sure how nice until I entered your room. Excuse me, cell."

The woman finally lifted her head to meet Percy's eyes. She smirked. "If SHIELD can't get anything out of me, what makes you think you can?"

Percy shrugged. "Who said I wanted to? Maybe I came here to rub it in your face and laugh about the Avengers being perfectly fine. Your plan didn't work." He tried to sound confident.

The woman's face showed surprise for a moment before it transformed into something even smugger than it was before. "You're lying. You wouldn't be here if it didn't work. I can read you like a book." She leaned as close as she could to him before her handcuffs stopped her. Percy resisted the urge to step back and tilted his chin up. "Tell me," she said, "how does it feel for people to completely forget you? I bet it positively eats at you when you see their blank stares—"

Before Percy was even aware of what he was doing, he had one hand fisted in the woman's shirt and the other against the back of the chair. He was breathing hard, but his words were deliberate. "Tell me how to fix them," he told her, "or you'll wish you'd never been born. I know the guy in charge of hell." When she laughed, Percy only smiled grimly. "Literally."

The woman stopped laughing, but her eyes didn't lose the crazed mirth Percy had seen before. "Oh, Percy, I feel bad for you. Really, I do. The reason SHIELD couldn't get anything out of me is because there's nothing to get. There is no cure. I didn't make one," she giggled.

Percy stepped back quickly. "Are you nuts? There's no way you didn't make one." Surely this lady was bluffing. But another look at her crazy eyes, and Percy knew she was telling the truth.

Percy shook his head at her and started backing out of the room. She cackled, screaming different obscenities at him. "Run, little boy! Run back to your precious strangers!"

Percy didn't think he could ever say he was glad to get back to his hospital room, but this time was the exception.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Percy was lying flat on his back with a pillow over his face on his bed. He'd been thinking non-stop ever since he'd gotten back from the Exacter's cell. He had a lot to consider.

He'd wondered if he was going to go back to Camp Half-Blood. He couldn't stay with the Avengers. He'd been accused by Annabeth to be a masochist, but he wasn't that bad. There's no way he could live with being in the same tower as six people who knew him as a stranger when he…knew them. No, Percy would have to go back to camp. They always needed help there, anyway.

He had thought about a solution to a problem, if there was anything on his Greek side he could do to help. He doubted that Apollo or any of the gods for that matter would interfere with something this big, but he could still try to look back at Camp. He didn't think that would help either.

Was he even going to talk to the team? Would they want to get to know him again if things didn't work out? Or would they choose to close up this time around? Was Percy ready to start from the beginning if they wanted to? It all goes back to the whole masochism thing, Percy thought miserably. Annabeth was right.

The sad thing was if the team asked him to stay, he would do it. He would do it in a heartbeat because they were another family to him and because he loved them like they were the older siblings he never had. Gods, he missed them, the old them, already.

Percy heard a knock at his door and then a creak as it opened. He groaned and peered at the clock from under the pillow. It was only eight o'clock. He didn't know the doctors wanted to start the testing this early.

He threw off the pillow and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Are the doctors even up at this time, Fury?" Percy complained, more because it was expected of him than anything. "Because I would think they would need their beauty sleep so they don't completely screw me up during test—" Percy looked up and realized that he was very much not talking to Nick Fury. "—ing," he finished lamely, eyes wide.

The six Avengers stood almost sheepishly in the doorway, Thor looking downright comical as he tried to squeeze through the door.

Percy finally worked his mouth closed. "Uh," he said, feeling unbearably awkward. "Hi?" Percy could've kicked himself for making it sound like a question.

"Hi," Tony said when Bruce and Natasha both nudged him. "Do you mind if we come in for a minute?"

Percy gestured for them to come in, still feeling a little shell-shocked. No way Fury had granted a pass for this. "Uh, we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Fury. We aren't exactly here because we have permission," Steve said, seeming to read his mind.

Percy found his voice again as Clint carefully shut the door. "Don't worry about it. I've snuck out twice in the past twelve hours. I won't tell if you don't."

Tony grinned. "I knew that guard was sleeping too heavily. Nice job, kid." He squinted at Percy. "I guess you aren't technically a kid, though. But I'm still gonna call you one."

Percy sighed, but a smile was playing on his lips. Some things didn't change no matter what the circumstances were. "Did you guys need anything?" Stupid question, Percy, why else would they be here, Percy asked himself sarcastically.

The team pulled up chairs, and Percy scooted more upright in his bed. Thor sat down heavily before his deep voice rumbled through the room. "I know you," he said finally. "Your name is Perseus Jackson. Your stories are told with great admiration—"

"Throughout Asgardian halls," Percy finished before realizing that it was really rude to interrupt someone, even if you already knew what they were going to say. "Sorry," he said, looking at his hands.

Thor stared at him in slight wonder. "You truly do know us."

Percy laughed. Thor's face resembled the time he had found out that there was such thing as a XXL banana split at the ice cream shop just down the block from Avengers Tower. "Yeah. I've lived with you guys for about six months now."

Tony whistled. "Wow, really? You've been able to deal with us for that long? That's impressive."

"Tony hacked a hospital tablet so he could get into the SHIELD records and stuff back at the tower," Natasha informed him. "Very Tony move, so I doubt you'll be creeped out by it."

"Well, you're not wrong," Percy mumbled. "And? What did you find?" he asked louder.

"Prank War footage," Clint said. "Very clever, by the way."

"Multiple pictures of us in a dog pile sleeping," Tony put in. "I'm gonna talk to Jarvis about that."

"You and Thor sparring," Steve added. "Videos and some well-timed pictures."

"Front of a newspaper where the Hulk was holding you," Natasha continued. "And video footage of all of us teasing you about it."

"Mercilessly," Percy said. "Don't forget how you didn't have a heart when you did it." Percy mentally berated himself again. How many times was he going to forget that they didn't know him? He needed to get rid of his knee-jerk reaction of treating them like they were still his best friends.

Thor rubbed his mouth. "We did go on for quite some time."

"And there were a lot of other mundane things and stuff," Tony finished off. "With SHIELD records on all the fights and baddies we've gotten together. In other words: a bunch of stuff."

Percy nodded. "You didn't risk getting caught by Fury to come tell me that, though," he pointed out.

Tony blinked. "Uh, right. We didn't." He turned to the others. "What are the chances that he already knows what I'm going to say since he apparently knows us so well?"

"We're trying to ask if you want to stay," Bruce said, cutting across Tony. "Tony's getting to the point of not kicking you out of the tower. I mean, we lived with you when you were a stranger once, so it won't be too different for us." He paused. "But if you're uncomfortable with it—"

Percy was sickeningly fast in his response. "No no, I'll stay with you guys. Who knows, maybe I could help you remember."

Steve smiled. "We'll be glad to have you, Percy." He patted his legs and stood up. "Fury will be in soon to take us for testing so we better go. The plan is to run individual tests and then group ones for brain scans later in the day. Hope you're up for some work." The team left with one last quick, slightly awkward smile.

Percy fell back against the bed. He groaned loudly and shoved a pillow back on his face. "Why me?" he asked the pillow. If there was any doubt in Annabeth's mind on the topic of his masochism, there certainly wasn't now.

Gods in Olympus, how was he going to do this?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When in doubt, call Annabeth.

It had been Percy's motto since he was, like fourteen, and he figured it had been working pretty well so far for him.

Annabeth shook her head at Percy in disbelief once he was done filling her in. "Percy, you could've died. And this whole thing with the Avengers is awful. How are you even remotely okay right now?" She rubbed her face, and Percy was almost sorry he bothered her with this. He didn't like to see her worried, but he knew if he didn't tell her she would definitely flay him alive. Probably. "What am I going to do with you, Seaweed Brain?" She shook her head again and gave him a half-smile. "I'm guessing you're still not going to come back to camp?"

Percy grinned. "You know me too well." He shuffled around on his bed. Still looking down, he added, "I can't give up on them, Annabeth. They need me to help them remember. I can't give up on family."

"I know," Annabeth said sympathetically. "I know." The horn sounded in the distance, and almost simultaneously, there was a knock on Percy's door. "Call me when you're not busy, Seaweed Brain. Things will turn out okay," she said seriously. "Love you." She waved a hand through the IM, ending the call.

A doctor opened Percy's door. "Are you ready, Mr. Jackson?"

Percy gave him a grimace. "Can't wait."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Percy wasn't sure what was worse. All the needles they jabbed in him trying to find a remedy, or the MRI he had to have that really reminded him how much he didn't like enclosed spaces.

Percy shuddered as he stepped out of the MRI room. He was still a little shaky, and all this medical equipment was bringing back to his brief stint as an actual lab rat. And the only people who knew a lot about that first-hand didn't remember him at all. Fantastic, Percy thought.

At least his next round of testing was with the team. The doctors sat him in a chair and turned him to face the Avengers. He gave a small wave before paying attention to the doctor.

"We need you to say certain words, phrases, or memories that have significance between you and the Avengers," he informed Percy. "Simply say it out loud, and we'll let you know if we need you to stop or say it again."

Percy nodded. "Sounds easy enough."

The doctor retreated with his clipboard a few feet and then gestured with his free hand. "Whenever you're ready, Mr. Jackson."

"Uh," Percy said, drawing a blank. He mentally wracked his head for something, only to blurt out "Atychiphobia."

"Bless you," Tony said dryly, although he frowned as he said it. He scratched his head. "Did I really tell you about that?" In the corner, the doctor looked at the brain waves and scribbled down some notes.

"Victor von Don't," Percy said.

Thor squinted at him. "It is either you or Tony that would say something like that."

"Prank War," Percy said, his tone a little smug despite his efforts to keep a calm face so he wouldn't give anything away. "Got it on camera and put it up all over SHIELD."

Clint's mouth dropped open. "You put it all over SHIELD?"

"Percy Jackson's Guide to Living with the Avengers." Percy tapped his fingers on his arm rest, trying to think of something that might jog their memories without going to the big can of worms first. But he was stumped. "Ariel. Mabaya Moja." These had to be sounding like random words he was just throwing out there to the team.

Natasha held out her hand in a "wait a minute" gesture, and Percy felt a small spark of hope come alive in him. "Say that again," she said.

"What, Mabaya Moja?" Percy said, confused but also a little excited. Was the team finally remembering something?

"That's Swahili, isn't it?" Natasha asked slowly. "For 'evil one'?"

Percy nodded. "Do you remember anything about it? That was a guy's name." The doctor frowned at Percy giving her a bit of information but didn't say anything otherwise.

She looked on the verge of saying something before she shook her head. "It felt like I was on to something," she explained, a little put out. "Maybe it was just the name's meaning, but it seems like it just has a really negative feeling with it. I don't like the name."

Bruce nodded. "Me too. And I didn't know what the name meant, either."

"We have a small amount of recognition showing up on the scans," the doctor said encouragingly. "Percy, try to stick to big things like that."

"Uh, okay," Percy agreed, reluctant to go on with heavy, depressing stuff like this. He went for the biggest thing since his stay with the Avengers, the climax of his knowing the team. The real point when they knew for sure they were stuck with him for a long, long time. "Rooftop with Coeus." Percy crossed his fingers a little bit and hoped no one was looking at his hands.

There was a long pause. The doctor in the room and scientists Percy knew were behind the window were probably scribbling furiously in their clipboards. But Percy was only looking at his friends.

They had blank looks on their faces at first glance, but in their eyes was a deep, confused sorrow, like they were really sad about something but weren't sure why. Percy felt his hopes lift. He knew that lady couldn't completely erase him from their memories. Not that cleanly.

"Do you know what happened there?" Percy asked quietly, not wanting to disturb their train of thought too much. When they all focused their attention on him and shook their heads no, Percy continued. "I actually died twice soon after that."

Tony gave Percy an are you kidding me look. "Kid, I'm gonna lock you away in a padded cell so I can ensure you live until twenty-five."

"Not the first time you've said that," Percy fired back.

"And probably not the last," Tony mumbled to him, slumping in his chair until a nearby scientist chided him. Tony sighed and sat back up straight so he wouldn't mess up the many wires connected to him.

After a pause, the doctor—Percy guessed he was in charge—stepped forward once more. "Okay, we're going to show you a recent video. It was from a very… emotional time, and if you feel at any time you need to stop it, notify me immediately. Although, I would ask that if you believe you can hold out for the duration of the ten minute video to do so. This could be very beneficial." With one last lingering look on Percy, the man began to fiddle with a small screen in the center of the room where everyone would be able to see it.

When Percy saw the room where this entire mess had started, his heart sank to somewhere around his feet. He had a feeling he knew exactly what this video was going to be, and he really, really didn't want to go there. He mouthed a curse.

He almost told the guy to stop the video right now when he saw him and the Exacter talking, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. His hands clenched the arm rest. His heart monitor was probably going through the roof.

He watched the team drop one by one like flies and felt like he was reliving his worst nightmare that pointed out all of his flaws. He looked like he had just stood there and watched it all happen. Watched as the woman clicked the button that started all of this. Watched as his friends' memories were erased. How could he have done that?

Percy was actually embarrassed at how far downhill he went. Or at least he would've been if he could freaking breathe. Watching himself scream and shout and basically fall apart in front of his very own eyes was a little disconcerting. Especially when SHIELD had a video of this and could pull it up at any point in time and show it to the entire world if they wanted to. All the scientists were probably watching the video right now, analyzing his every move and coming up with all the different ways he wasn't good enough. They'd be right, anyway.

The video ended with Percy being dragged away, and the silence that followed was thick and uncomfortable, although Percy was only half-aware of it. He was floating in a haze of his own mistakes, too far in to realize that someone was calling his name.

"Percy!" Steve said loudly, gently tapping his face. "Hey, buddy, are you alright?"

Percy blinked. "Uh."

Natasha sighed. "Why didn't you stop the video, Percy?" she asked, not unkindly and not like she was surprised at all. She glanced at the armrests, eyebrows raised. Percy blinked rapidly and turned his head to look at them, prying his fingers off the armrests carefully. Percy winced when he saw the halfway mangled pieces of the chair. "Oops," he murmured. "My bad."

Percy tilted his head back up and wished he could've bottled the looks the team was giving him at the moment. Because sadly enough, it was exactly the ones they used to give him when he did something really stupid. Back when they still remembered him.

And for a moment, he could pretend like everything was normal and he had done something normal-Percy would do that would make the normal-team worried.

But this wasn't normal. And they didn't remember him. And Percy, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, was not okay.

A/N: There's nothing like self-hate and regret for your favorite character, am I right? Kidding (or am I?). Anyway, I have a world of pain—ahem, fun— coming up for you guys soon. I figured it all out last night. It's going to be so fun (for me)! Thanks for your amazing response so far. Let me know what you thought, and if you might have any guesses as to what might soon be happening. :) See you guys in a week!