GUESS WHOS BACK! I'm sorry this took so long to update! Here's the long awaited new chapter!
"Nothing." Fury stomped into the situation room, looked at Banner and Tony, and slammed the door. "He gave me absolutely nothing."
"Maybe you're losing your touch One-Eye," Tony smirked as he leaned on a filing cabinet. Fury growled and Tony raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying."
Fury ignored him and continued: "I've already called Thor and asked him to check on the Tesseract." Nick placed the files he had used during the interrogation on his desk and looked up. "To make sure no one's stolen it and is putting pieces of it on chains."
Bruce nodded. Tony sat back into a chair and raised his hand. He waited until both Bruce and Fury were staring at him before dropping his hand. "OK. Question, how did the professional spy get out interrogated by an eighteen year old?"
Banner winced. Fury glared at the files on his desk and responded sarcastically. "You can go fill out a complaint if it pleases you. Have a nice day."
Tony stood up, rolled his eyes, turned on his heel and walked out.
"I'll go up to the lab and run some tests on something." Banner said as he left.
"Director Fury, sir!" An agent called over from his desk.
Fury walked over to the agent's desk. "What is it?"
"The unknown Class Threes have exited the cab. It dropped them off at the corner of 52nd Street."
"Okay." Fury stepped back and raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "Send in a small team and bring them in."
"Drop us off here." Annabeth stopped the driver. They were a block down from the SHIELD regional headquarters. It was a tall grey office building that blended in with the skyline. It had started to get dark, which was helping Nico regain his strength. He had shadow traveled them all across New York earlier, practically draining his power. And he would need it for what they were about to do.
"Okay." The taxi driver pulled over. Annabeth, Nico and Thalia got out and walked towards the building. The three demigods had mastered the art of blending in, which actually wasn't that hard in New York. As they got closer to the building, they didn't see anything special about it.
Suddenly Nico stopped. He glanced around for moment, then quickly pulled Thalia and Annabeth away from the crowd on the sidewalk and into an alley.
"What?" Thalia crossed her arms.
Nico was still glancing around, scanning the crowds as they walked past. "I saw a guy just standing around up the street there, big guy, dark suit, leaning on a No Parking sign, checking out the crowd, might as well have had a sign on reading GOVERNMENT AGENT."
Annabeth and Thalia looked out at the crowd. They couldn't see him, but they trusted Nico. "You're probably right," said Annabeth. "But you know, he may not be looking for us." Annabeth turned her head and looked back into the alley. "But – just in case – maybe we should go around the back."
Twenty yards later, the alley turned a blind corner.
"FREEZE!" Five agents in dark suits were standing there, heavily armed.
They spun around looking for a way out, but three more agents appeared behind them, blocking the way back to the busy street. Nico recognized the agent in the middle of the three as the guy from the street. He was smiling unpleasantly. There was nowhere to run. The three of them went back to back. They didn't take out their weapons, but they had a hand on them just in case.
"Nico." Thalia whispered without looking at him. "Get us out of here."
"I can't." Nico sighed. "All out of battery."
"Then we fight, on my signal." Annabeth said, just quietly enough for only the three of them to hear.
The middle agent smiled again. "You're coming with us."
"Why should we?" Thalia snarled. Annabeth put a hand up stop Thalia from doing anything stupid.
"Because we have your friend Perseus."
Annabeth paused. "Who's Perseus?"
"Perseus?" Thalia crossed her arms and played along. "That's a stupid name." Nico nodded vigorously.
The agent stopped smiling and looked at them, one after the other. Not pleasantly. "Don't waste my time. You all visited him in jail, we have it on video tape."
Annabeth thought on her feet. "Well, we often visit jails for our church group. You know, reach out to troubled youth. Never met him before yesterday."
The agent raised his eyebrows. "You were kissing him."
"He was particularly troubled."
The agent growled. "Good one, Goldilocks, I'm laughing on the inside. You know, we can do this all day. But why don't we just cut to the chase? We have him, we can take you to him." The agent grinned nastily. "And we are going to take you to him, one way or another. So we can do this the hard way or the easy way." He paused and slowly looked over the three. "And you wouldn't want us to do it the hard way – you're just a bunch of kids."
The three exchanged glances. Silent agreement passed between them.
"We'll save you the trouble of doing it the hard way. Don't want to hurt any of you, you know, with you guys all so close to retirement." Nico spoke up for the first time.
The agent stopped grinning as if he had been slapped. He spoke into his watch and a newspaper delivery van came down the alley and parked. The three got into the back and sat on the floor. An agent closed the rear doors, smacked the side of the van, and it drove off.
Thalia broke the silence in the back of the van. "Well at least we found him. Sort of."
"Just not really in the way we wanted." Annabeth said.
Nico looked up. "Just a bunch of kids, eh? We'll see about that."
Percy looked around the room to see if there was anything he could use. As this was a holding cell – not long term accommodations – there was no plumbing, which was a pity. But…
"YO! GUARD!" Percy slammed his handcuffed hands down on the desk in front of him a few times, trying to get a guard's attention.
The guard standing outside the cell heard his shout, walked over and opened a small hatch in the door. He looked in suspiciously. "What do you want?"
"A glass of water. Please." Percy replied. "I'm thirsty, I've been in this cell all day." Percy was doing his puppy dog face. "Come on, this isn't Guantanamo Bay."
The guard thought for a moment and nodded. He closed the hatch, and Percy heard his footsteps walk away. The same footsteps returned a few moments later. The hatch opened, the guard checked the room, closed the hatch, unlocked and opened the door. The guard walked in, holding a small paper cup of water. He put the cup in front of Percy.
"Thank you so much," Percy read the nametag on the man's chest. "Agent Young." Percy gave the agent an Academy Award winning smile. He looked about as threatening as a goldfish.
The guard started walking away. Percy rattled his handcuffs. "Hey, maybe you could take off these handcuffs for a bit? Please? It's hard to drink in cuffs, man. I'm locked up in a cell, what's the worst I could do?"
The guard thought about it for moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose so."
Percy held his hands up. The guard unlocked the young prisoner's handcuffs and placed them on the table. Percy rubbed his slightly sore wrists and leaned back in his chair. "Wow, those were pretty tight. Thanks so much."
The guard smiled slightly. "Just don't tell my supervisors." Percy smiled sweetly. The guard walked out of Percy's cell.
Percy stopped smiling as soon as the door closed. His plan was going well so far. It was usually Annabeth who came up with the plans, but she was unavailable. Percy took a small sip of the water and glanced around the room. The door hatch was closed. Time to leave. He picked up the cup of water, stood up and walked quietly to the door. He bent the paper cup to form a spout and slowly poured the water into the door lock through the keyhole. He closed his eyes and felt the water pooling inside the lock mechanism. "I hope you're not just outside the door, Agent Young," he thought, and then he commanded the water to boil. Immediately.
BANG
The lock exploded and the door flew open. Percy ran out into the corridor, expecting to see hundreds of heavily armed guards coming towards him. But no one was there. "Hope no one heard that," he muttered to himself as he looked around. He was standing in a short corridor with empty cells lining either side, with a turn at the right end of the hall and a staircase at the left. His hand was in his pocket resting on Riptide. Sure, his sword couldn't hurt mortals, but it could frighten them if required.
"FREEZE!" A shout echoed down the hall. Percy snapped his head round in surprise. Agent Young was standing there, bringing up his weapon. Alarms started blaring and Percy could hear the hurried footsteps of many men coming towards him. So much for a quick getaway.
"Director." A voice called from across the situation room. Fury looked up from his desk and stood up.
Exiting the elevator was Agent Cooper, followed by three teenagers. They were surrounded by guards.
The party stopped in front of Fury's desk. Cooper looked at Fury. "Here are the suspected Class Threes." The guards stepped away from the teens. The blonde one, Annabeth Chase, calmly met Fury's stare. The dark haired girl glared challengingly. The boy was looking down, hair in front of his eyes. But it wasn't cowardly. Fury could tell the boy was scanning the room for threats and escape routes. His gaze never stayed in the same place for more than 10 seconds. He looked about 15 years old, maybe younger.
"Annabeth Chase, I assume." Fury looked at the blonde.
"Yes, and you are?" Annabeth replied sharply.
Fury met her gaze and crossed his arms. "Who I am isn't important, Blondie. Who you three are, though, that's the million dollar question."
"We're nobodies." Nico spoke up, raising his head slowly.
"I know that. Do you know why?" He paused. "Because according to all the records in the world, you two simply don't exist" He pointed at Nico and Thalia. "Now you guys are going to tell us what we want to know or we'll put you somewhere and throw away the key." Fury threatened.
"I want my phone call!"" Thalia shouted. "We have rights!"
"Sorry, only people who exist have rights." Nick Fury glared at them. "Tell us who you are. Remember, we have Perseus."
Suddenly alarms start blaring. An announcement came over the PA: "Attention. Prisoner Perseus Jackson has escaped. All available personnel report for duty." Annabeth, Nico and Thalia glanced at each other and Thalia flashed a grin. "You have Percy, eh?"
Nick Fury quickly took charge. He grabbed the PA microphone on his desk. "Agent numbers 100-140 go search the right wing. 141-180, left wing." The PA made his voice sound enormous. "Guards already positioned in sections 15-20 be on your guard, arm your weapons. Do not engage unless attacked. Do not use live ammunition, we need Jackson alive." He turned off the microphone and turned to the four guards surrounding the three teens. "Keep an eye on them." Nick Fury then walked down the hall with another agent reading out the details of the escape. He shook his head. "He blew up the lock? How?"
Percy made a split second decision and bolted to the right. Shouts followed him down the hallway. He ran down the corridor and turned the corner. He froze. There were eight agents coming towards him, maybe thirty feet away. The lead agent shouted into his headset. "We have eyes on the escapee."
Percy instinctively reached for Riptide, and then remembered it wouldn't help him out much against mortals. He glanced around, seeing a door just slightly ahead of him on the left. Maybe a fire escape? Hope it's not locked…
The agents stopped. Three agents took out their guns, set them to stun and trained them on Percy. He put his hands up in surrender. "Okay okay, you got me, no need for the guns, I was just going out for a cheeseburger, you know?" The agents shared glances and relaxed slightly.
Then Percy faked to the right and sprung toward the door, which was unlocked. He slammed the door behind him and locked it. He turned around and surveyed the room. It was a janitor's room, stocked with equipment and supplies. Okay, time to improvise. Percy sighed and started to search the small room for anything that could help him. He saw a camera mounted on the left wall, looked at it, smiled and waved. Guess toilet roll theft must be a big problem, good to see steps were being taken. He heard the guards banging on the door, commanding him to come out. Percy looked at the far wall and saw a sink with two faucets. And water pipes behind the faucets, passing into the wall. Aha…
"We're breaking down this door kid."
Percy armed himself with a mop. Moptide, he thought, and grinned. Bring it…
"On my mark."
Percy readied himself and the pipes started to crack. "Now!" Percy wasn't sure how they did it but the door came crashing down. The guards crowded into the room and this time all their weapons were raised. There seemed to be more guards now. "Drop the... broom… or we will use deadly force!"
"Now this is all a misunderstanding-" Halfway through his own sentence, he made the pipes burst violently. The wall around the pipes exploded. An unbelievable amount of water and steam sprayed everywhere, sending the agents into a confusion that Percy used to his advantage. He struck a few down with his mop but he was ultimately overcome and lost his weapon. He swung his arms inwards, taking control of the water on the floor. The water launched into the air in a violent wave, hitting the agent closest to him like a train. Percy cringed when the man smacked into the wall. He really didn't like using his powers on mortals, but right now he didn't really have a choice. Tendrils of water rose up from the pool on the floor and quickly knocked the other agents' guns to the ground.
The agent that was doing all the talking yelled into his headset. "We've got a Code Red situation here, Director! Looks like hydrokinesis!"
"Hydrokinesis? So you're in a water fight?" Fury deadpanned into his earpiece, as he watched the live feed of the fight at his desk. "Do you want me to send down some guys with Super Soakers?"
Fury turned his attention back to his monitor. This kid was well trained. He could think on his feet and improvise, which is rare, and even rarer if it actually works out for you. He was powerful, for sure, and his water talent was, well, unbelievable, but the expert spy could tell that Percy was holding back. He was trying not to hurt his captors, which was strange for a murderer. Fury started to wonder if maybe there was another explanation for Percy's behavior on the subway, but his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of chaos down the hallway.
Fury pulled up security cameras one by one until he found the source of the sound. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and annoyance. "Damn."
The three teenagers were fighting, trying to escape. And they were winning, by a huge margin. It was three against nine agents, a few agents already down. He saw Annabeth take one out with a complicated move, before moving onto the next. Blonde widow, Fury thought – he couldn't help himself. Smiling, the girl with the black hair punched one guard in the stomach and held her fist there for a moment. The guard seemed to be having a seizure. He fell to the ground unconscious after she removed her fist. It was like he'd been hit by a Taser or electrocuted, but the girl carried no weapon in her hand. The boy elbowed his opponent in the nose, distracting him, and then slipped around behind the guard and kicked his knees out, sending him to the floor, then knocked the agent out with a surprisingly gentle blow to the head. They finished off the others pretty quickly, working as a unit. The three exchanged a few words and the boy nodded. The girls both grabbed hold of the boy's left arm. He stood still for a minute, concentrating. Fury watched, not knowing what to expect. The shadows inside the room started to gather around the three of them, then the teenagers just… disappeared, and the shadows went back to normal.
Fury rested his chin on his hand, watching the fight over in his head.
These kids were well trained, just like Percy. Perhaps all trained together. Except they all had their individual fighting styles. Annabeth knows exactly what her opponent is going to do and strikes back before you've even hit her. It's like she's moving at normal speed and her opponent is stuck in slow motion. She analyzes her adversary and the battlefield and uses it to her advantage. Natural instincts like that can be hard to come by. And useful, he thought. The black haired girl fought with a snarky smile, like she knows she's going to win. She isn't afraid of going up against anyone. She fought straight on, no sneaky strikes. She wants her challengers to know that she has beaten them. The opposite was true for the boy. He didn't let his enemy know they had lost until it was too late. And those Class Three powers, too…
Fury snapped himself out of his mental review of the fight. Fury knew where the kids were going. He scrolled through the security camera feeds until he came to the janitor's room and mentally noted the location. He armed himself with his shotgun and swung open his door.
The newly disarmed agents ran at Percy, throwing well timed punches and kicks. They worked as a unit, and two agents soon had Percy pinned against the corridor wall outside the janitor's room. Every few seconds a third agent would deliver a new blow to Percy's stomach, making it difficult for Percy to regain control.
The third agent smiled between punches. "We've got the escapee pinned, Director."
"Understood. I'm on my way." Fury said over his com.
The agent took off his headset and got into Percy's face. "Good effort, kid, but nobody gets past SHIELD."
Percy's gaze shifted slightly, to a point just behind the agent. "Yup, nobody." The agent barely had time to register what Percy had said before he hit the floor, out cold. Annabeth stood there, holding a fire extinguisher, in front of Nico and Thalia. The three jumped into action, taking out guards left and right. Percy twisted viciously to work himself free of the two agents holding his arms and joined in the brawl. Soon the fight was over, and the four were left panting in the hall.
"Well, what took you so long?" Percy broke the silence.
Annabeth smiled. "You know, New York, just had to do some shopping."
"And some sightseeing. It's changed since last time I was here," added Thalia.
"So no weapons eh?" Percy asked.
"Nope. They took my knife." Annabeth huffed.
Thalia grinned. "Didn't really feel like showing Medusa's face to a bunch of mortals."
"Yeah, not in the mood to kill anyone right now." Nico said. Percy couldn't tell if he was joking. "We can beat them without weapons anyway."
"Okay so how do we get out of here?" Percy asked, glancing around.
"We go down, you idiot." Thalia rolled her eyes.
Percy ignored her and turned to Annabeth. She shrugged her shoulders. "The layout of this building is complicated. I'd say we go with Thalia's plan."
"Director, motion sensors have picked up activity in staircase 16," a voice over his communicator said. "We've checked the security feed, it's them. They are heading downstairs."
Fury thought for a moment. "Send a team outside to meet them by the bottom floor exit door. I'll meet up with them there."
"FREEZE!" Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico flew out the stairwell door and were immediately face to face with about a million guns.
"I've heard that too many times today, can't you guys come up with something else?" Percy sighed, putting up his hands.
Fury stood at the front of the agents, with a shotgun, but he was holding it casually, down beside his right leg. "Now listen to me, you four."
Thalia rolled her eyes. "Make me, pirate man!"
"Why should we?" Nico crossed his arms.
Fury glared at Thalia and raised his voice slightly. "Because we are not your enemy. Our enemy is whoever tried to kill you." He pointed at Percy. "On the subway, and again while we were bringing you in."
Annabeth spoke up confidently. "Prove it. Put the guns down."
Fury look at his agents and nodded slowly. They all lowered their weapons and put them on the ground.
Percy extended his arms, "Group hug, everyone?"
"Maybe later." Fury looked at him. "Now, I've seen what you four can do."
The teenagers glanced at each other, knowing they had some explaining to do.
Fury continued. "You have talent, and you show promise. I'd like to make you a proposal. Work with us, and we'll keep quiet on your… special abilities. Not ask too many questions. If you won't help us, we'll have no choice but to keep you four as prisoners, as it is our job to deal with unknown threats." He paused. "So what do you say? Do we have a deal?" The Director finished, and looked at the teens expectantly.
The four shared a silent conversation. Percy was the one who answered. "It's a bit of a one sided proposal, don't you think? It's not like we have much choice." He sighed. "It's a deal. We'll do it."
Hope you enjoyed! I'm going to go write the next chapter. Thanks so much for reading!
-Silver
