Super sorry about the wait. Please don't hate me. Here's the next chapter
Percy was eight years old. "Go get me some beer, freak," Gabe Ugliano threw the empty bottle at him. The glass broke against his back. Percy cringed and hurried from the apartment, Gabe's credit card in hand. He went into the liquor store down the street and put a box of beer on the counter.
"You're a bit young for that, kid."
"It's not for me."
"Yeah right."
"Please."
"Get out."
"Please."
"Out," the man kicked Percy out. Literally. Percy went to a different store. The same thing happened. After five tries, he went home empty handed.
"Where's my beer?"
"No one would let me buy any," Percy said. Gabe roared an unearthly roar and kicked eight year old Percy into the wall. Percy went down, curling into a ball. Gabe kicked him over and over as Percy whimpered from pain and fear. He sent Percy back out.
"And don't come back until you've got my beer!"
Crying, Percy ran for five minutes before curling up in an alley. A group of people came over and hit him, kicked him, and spit on him. They drug him into the street and drove over him three times before he finally passed out. Percy opened his eyes to see a masked man lift him up. The man pulled off his mask revealing dark hair. Percy moaned.
"Shh. You're okay kid. It's okay." Percy sank back into unconsciousness. When he woke up this time, he was in the hospital. Sally, his mom, stood over him.
"Percy, baby? Are you okay?"
"Momma."
"I'm here baby. I'm here. You're okay Percy. It's all gonna be okay"
Percy slammed the door. For a minute or so, nobody moved. Steve stood and left. In the hallway, he said, "JARVIS, where did Percy go?"
"To the gym down the hall. Also, he appears to be in great distress." Steve bolted for the gym. Percy was curled up in a ball, whimpering. Steve sat next to him and tried to gently shake Percy awake.
"JARVIS, how do you wake someone from a panic attack?"
"I would recommend finding out what triggered it and removing it from the environment."
"His life is what triggered it. What did Annabeth do? She talked to him. Okay. Hey, kid, you're okay."
Percy cried out and curled into a smaller ball. "Hey, you're okay. It's okay Percy. Shh. You're okay kid. It's okay. Shhh. Shhhh. You're okay. Shhh. Shhhhh. It's okay. You're safe. You're okay. You're okay Percy. It's all gonna be okay." Percy moaned and opened his eyes. "Hey kid. You okay?"
"Fine. But next time I say don't follow me, don't follow me."
"You look pretty shook up."
"That's what happens after a panic attack," Percy stood.
"That wasn't a panic attack. That was a blackout. What happened?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Yes it does."
"No," Percy left the room and found his way to the roof. What's the point? It's one nightmare after the other. First Gabe, then the Titans, the Giants, always the gods, and now the Avengers. I don't get a single flipping break. "Why do I bother? I might as well just walk away. Except I can't because the gods are everywhere."
"They're there when you die, too. All but two hours of my experience with gods has been after I died," Magnus is leaning on the wall.
"Who even are you?"
"Magnus Chase, son of Frey."
"Chase. As in Annabeth? And who the heck is Frey?"
"Annabeth is my cousin Frey is the god of summer."
"What? Notus is god of summer."
"Who's Notus?"
"Magnus! There you are!" A girl with a green scarf on her head flew into him. Yes. Flew. Percy noticed the battle axe over her shoulder and drew Riptide, who had returned to his pocket a while ago. The girl drew her axe and pulled Magnus behind her.
"Who are you?" Percy asked.
"Who are you?" The girl asked.
"I asked you first."
"I have an idea," Magnus said.
"Not now, Chase," Percy and the girl said simultaneously.
"You know him?" The girl asked.
"He's my girlfriend's cousin," Percy narrowed his eyes.
"He's my dead guy."
"He's not dead."
"He will be. As soon as he gets back to Valhalla."
"What's that?"
"Why?" Magnus asked
"Alex is mad."
"Ah. Uh, could you tell her I'm fine? On a quest? Because I think I am."
"You think?"
"Yeah. I'll fill you in later."
"You'll fill me in now, or I'll purposefully die heroically in front of a Valkyrie who owes me money. At which point I will make waiting for Ragnarok worse than helheim."
"I'm very confused."
"I would be too if I were in your shoes. Percy, meet Sam. Sam, this is Percy, Annabeth's boyfriend. Explanation for all the confusion: Percy has lived in a world of Greek and Roman gods. I'm a Viking. I live in a world of Norse gods. I'm dead as of last year. Sam is the one who brought me into the afterlife. Somehow, the Greek slash Roman gods haven't attacked the Norse gods. In not attacking, Midgard, aka earth, is still in existence. Valhalla is essentially eislym only we're constantly training for doomsday rather than enjoying death. For whatever reason, some government people need us. Also Thor's here."
"What? Is Odin?"
"Nope. Just Thor. Also, we're helping the Avengers. I might not be back for a while."
"Just don't die. So long as you remember that if you die out here, you die for real, and I can't bring you back. No one knows where enherjar go if they die outside of Valhalla."
"I'll be fine Sam. My cousin annabeth is kick but. Not to mention I have Jack and am pretty decent at survival."
"You're always the first to die of your hallmates."
"Yeah but that's against dudes who've been doing this for centuries. Millennia."
"Hate to burst your bubble, but Greek monsters have been doing this for millennia, and I've been doing this for five years."
"Annabeth?"
"Ten years."
"So I stick with you or your girlfriend. Easy peasy. But I'm not totally defenseless. I do have a magic sword."
"Yes we know," Sam glared at Magnus and the two of them busted up laughing. Percy took this Normy to skip from the roof to the den. Annabeth looked at him worriedly. Percy nodded almost unnoticeably.
"Uh... Where do we sleep?" Leo asked. "and where's the food?"
"Food's in the kitchen. You sleep in your rooms," Tony said. "Steve, take them their rooms." the captain nodded and led the demigods up two flights of stairs to the thirty-fifth floor.
"This is my floor. If you need me, come anytime. Percy, you're directly above me in thirty-six. Then Annabeth, Nico, Hazel, Frank, Thalia, Jason, Piper, Leo, Magnus. Above Magnus is forty-six. That's Bruce. Then Thor. Tony's one oh seven at the very top. Beneath me is Natasha and Clint is below her, on thirty-three. You guys can decorate your floors however you want. Or you can tell JARVIS what you like and he came to the walls, floors, views, even the pictures on the wall. If you get lost, JARVIS can hero you find your way back. Any time you need him, it, whatever, just talk. A way to guarantee that he catches everything you say is to start with JARVIS. For example: which way to the bathroom," nothing happened. "JARVIS, which way to the bathroom?"
"Down the hall on your left right doors down."
"There ya go. Enjoy," Steve walked away. Percy and the group headed towards their individual floors. Once there, Percy picked up a phone and dialed a memorized number.
"Yellow," a familiar voice said.
"Will, is me."
"Did it happen again?"
"Twice."
"How far apart?"
"No mor'n an hour. It's getting worse. And I have a quest mission thing for the government. I'm not supposed to tell you, but hey, you're my doctor. Please tell me you can be a psychic right now."
"You mean a psychologist, and yeah," Will Solace chuckled. "wanna IM?'
"So long as this crap stops, I don't care."
"Percy, if I could make it stop,I would. But it's PTSD from the ears combined with the effect that Tartarus had on you as well as all the stress you've been dealing with lately what with Apollo being missing. I'm gonna hang up and IM you. Don't go anywhere," Will hung up and moments later, the shimmering screen of an iris-message appeared before him. "okay go."
"Where do I start?" Percy flopped on the bed.
"try the beginning. That's usually a good idea."
"What about when there's fine beginnings?"
"Okay. Start with getting arrested."
"You know?"
"Your mom is frantic and stressed and freaking out and I've had to talk her out of three panic attacks. Paul refuses to let me leave."
"Go get her. I'm not supposed to tell her, but I didn't swear on the Styx,in out even sign a paper. I was just told to Keep it a secret by sir dude in an eyepatch." Will let and returned with Sally Jackson.
"Percy!"
"Hey Mom. I'm not actually in jail, I'm not actually a terrorist, I wasn't actually arrested. Some top secret government agency just needs my help with something. So, we're with the Avengers for a bit. Take care of yourself and my baby sister. Be good, yada yada, please don't worry about me. For once I'm going into battle with adults, rather than by my freaking self. I've got the normal crew, plus a god,a soldier from seventy years ago, a scientist with anger issues, an egotistical rich tech due, and to kick but secret agents. So saving the world's not up to a bunch of teenagers this time. See ya later?"
"Be safe. And call me any chance you get. Promise?"
"I swear on the River Styx to call you or IM you one way or another at least every three days unless I am incapable of doing so."
"Please be safe baby. I love you."
"Kind you too Mom," she left and I proceeded to tell Will about being arrested, both blackouts, and the events leading up to them. I told him everything.
"Wow. It's times like these I with I really we're a psychologist rather than a teenage son of the MIA god of medicine. Percy, you'd be better off taking to Psyche. Problem is, she's of with food for their anniversary. So that's not doable. Do I guess I'm your best option. Okay. Um... And how do you feel about that?" Will asked that last question in a subdued, gentle, soft, whispery, irritating shrink voice. Percy chuckled.
"Man, I'm you're my friend. But in all seriousness, Will I'm worried. What if something like this happens during battle, or a monster attack. What if I can't help Annabeth because of them and she dies. What if-"
"What's your worst what if?"
"What if I go back."
"That's not going to happen. Hades swore on the Styx to keep you from entering through the underworld and Zeus swore to keep you from falling in from the sky. They even forced Gaea to fill in all the entrances from the mortal world. And if you do go back, Hemera is our ally. She swore to pull you out. You don't have to worry about that, do tell me the truth. What's your worst what if?"
"what if I have a blackout in the middle of a fight and I kill Annabeth?"
"During a blackout, you go down. You don't do anything else. It's like you Pass out and fall into a heap of your standing, and if you're sitting, you just mentally leave for a bit. You have never and will never hurt annabeth during a blackout. The most you can do to hurt her with one is not tell her about it or not tell her what happened. Keep her in the loop, and you don't have to worry about anything at all."
"Will, they're worse. All the time. I used to be able to at least know someone was talking to me, know that it was just a panic attack. Now..."
"What you you feel? When they happen?"
"Fear. Overwhelming, consuming, one hundred percent pure terror."
"Why?"
"They feel real. And some of them are. Some of them are memories. And that's the scary part. I can't tell what's a memory and what's that stupid pit Messing with my head. I... help," Percy choked out the word as he's thrown into another blackout.
Percy was fourteen this time. Annabeth was holding up the sky, but it was crushing her. She was collapsing under the weight of the sky. Luke was there, looking on and laughing. One of his eyes was blue, the other pure gold. His sword, backbiter, was half celestial bronze, half iron. Percy ran up to stop Luke and help Annabeth. Luke grinned and held Percy in place. With a flick of his wrists, Percy was tied up by celestial bronze ropes. The more Percy struggled, the tighter they got. Luke came over and stapled Percy's eyes open.
"Enjoy the show," the son of Hermes hissed. Percy had no choice but to watch helplessly as Luke dragged Thalia under the sky and Annabeth's limp body out. The blonde tried to put up a fight, but in her weakened state, she was easily overpowered. Luke then did the worst thing he could do to this broken, weak, helpless Annabeth. He kissed her. When she recoiled, not wanting to kiss him. He strangled her then kissed her again. He removed his hand from Annabeth's threat and she gasped for air, involuntary kissing Luke back. He kissed her for what felt hours, but in actuality was only a minute and a half. Percy tried to get to her. To pull the girl he loved away from the monster on top of her. But he was trapped. The ropes didn't let him move. Luke pulled away and pulled out Annabeth's dagger. He stabbed her in the leg, staking her to the ground. He did the same thing to her other leg and both arms with identical daggers. Then he took a barrel of acid and poured it over the girl's feet, causing them to steam. He poured the corrosive liquid completely over the girl and then down her throat. Percy watched in horror as Annabeth died in agony. Then he was shoved under the sky as Thalia was given the same treatment. Then Luke stabbed them in the stomach and drank their blood. Percy screamed.
"Percy? Percy talk to me. Percy!" Will shouted. Percy nodded weakly. "What happened? You were screaming your head off."
"Luke... Annabeth... Thalia... he killed them."
"Not a memory. They're both perfectly fine. A hundred percent alive. And Luke is gone. He died during the war. You know that."
"Percy!" Steve kicked the door in and ran to the frail demigod. Percy shook his head.
"I'm fine."
"You are not fine," Steve and Will say simultaneously. Then Will continues. "Excuse me sir, who are you?"
"Steve. Percy's helping us out with some stuff."
"Okay Steve, I'm Percy's doctor. He's suffering from severed PTSD. He has blackouts where he experiences something that feels real, and is always terrifying or painful. He has trouble knowing if his blackouts are memories or not. The best way to deal with that is to ask him to tell you what happened. Then, if you're not sure, ask Annabeth. If it's not a memory, assure him of that. Most of them are his memories, only warped and twisted into something much worse. I gave him some pills to help calm him down after a blackout or a panic attack. He doesn't like taking them, but he needs to. And he needs a different one every night before bed. I'm putting you in charge of making sure he takes them. If he doesn't have them on him, I can get you some more to give him. But it's important that he take them. One red one before bed, one white one after every panic attack, two after a blackout. During a blackout, it looks like he's passed out, but he's either shaking, crying, mumbling, or screaming. If he says anything, keep track of that. I'll call every two days and I want you to tell me exactly how many panic attacks and blackouts he's had. If he has any nightmares, I need to know about those two. But never try to wake him from a nightmare. I'm telling you that for your safety. Be there when he wakes up, but do not try to wake him up. And give him two white pills after a nightmare, because most times, they are blackouts. During a panic attack, try to talk him out of it. Remind him that he's safe, and that he's out. He was somewhere very bad. Literally hell. So remind him that he's safe and that he's out. During a blackout, the only thing you can do is be there, ready for when he wakes up. Annabeth also has panic attacks and regular nightmares. She had her own pills, the same as Percy's. She gets one red before bed and one white after a panic attack. Nico needs the same as Annabeth. I trust Annabeth to take her pills and long her panic attacks and nightmares. I trust Nico to pretend they don't happen, but I trust Hazel to make sure he takes his pills and long his attacks. Percy though, I trust him to get mad at anyone and everyone when they happen, or to be left in a state of complete and utter terror, Like he is now. And I don't trust him to take the meds or keep up with his log. I'm trusting you to do this. Can I trust you?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever dealt with anyone with PTSD?"
"I fought in WWII and in the recent war with Loki. I have a bit of PTSD myself. Yes I know how to handle it."
"Is your PTSD under control?"
"Yes. I get the occasional nightmare, and that's about it."
"How do you deal with them?"
"I drink some water and take a couple breaths before going back to bed. After a bad one I might go hit a punching bag."
"Okay. So you're under control. If that changes though, I need to know. I need to know if Percy's meds and log are being taken care if by someone mentally stable or not. Amongst our friends, that's pretty hard to find. Annabeth was the most stable until she and Percy were there, and now... let's just say I'd trust Connor and Travis with my wallet more than I'd trust Annabeth during and after an attack. And Connor and Travis are the least trustworthy people I know."
"Aren't you worried about Percy hearing all this?"
"He's asleep."
"What? That was fast."
"A bad blackout can drain him physically and emotionally. He'll sleep for a few hours and be fine come morning."
"Alright. I've got this. You don't have to worry."
"Thanks Steve," Will cut the connection.
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