Yay! Extra long chapter today! Anyway, let's get to comments shall we:
"So the rest of the Seven are dead? Great." - Yes, yes they are.
"Forgot that they died since I haven't read this for so long." - Me too buddy
"UPDATE! PLEASE! In LOVE with all this! I also really liked the - sorta - flashbacks Percy was having and, quite frankly, liked the whole chapter. I SO want more of this. I'm practically buzzing with excitement for the next chapter!See you (hopefully) soon! ~ BP2" - Dude, thank you so much. You do not know how much nice comments mean to me. You give me life!
"I love it! This story is like a rare gem found in the deep depths of stories!" - My heart! Aaaaaa! You're so nice thank you!
"wow this is really nice I'll be waiting day and night for this keep up the good work" - Thank you! I hope you enjoy future chapters because it only goes down further from here.
"i want to ask you , is the pain in his head because of his new powers, and is loki going to do anything to peter since percy didn't do his mission correctly , or is this only for him to be obedient at first ?" - Yes, the pain in his head are because of the new powers. But, not only did Loki unlock Percy's Norse powers, he added something a little extra. *wink wonk*
"PLEASE WRITE A NEW CHAPTER. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!" - OH MY GOD HERE YOU GO PLEASE ENJOY!
"This is such a good story, and I really love the pairing! I'm excited for your next update!" - Thank you! I like the pairing as well, I didn't see much of it so I basically feeding myself. And please, enjoy this update.
!Warning! Heavy abuse and language in this chapter during one scene. I tried to make it as real as possible by researching the actions of an abused person and tried to put that into Percy. If it makes you uncomfortable, that's fine, you can just skip it. But otherwise, you can continue reading. Thank you for reading this.
P.S. This hasn't been beta-read yet, so you'll might see this chapter again because of the newer version. Anyway, continue reading.
My Boyfriend Is No Longer My Boyfriend?
Bruce stared at the body that was carefully dropped on his table. "What's this?" He exclaimed, eying the boy and the wound on his leg. "Whatever, I'm just not going to ask anymore." Bruce, already knowing what to do from the concern on Steve's face, set to his work, removing the bullet and bandaging the leg as quick as possible, signs of a good doctor.
As Bruce did his work, Steve paced back-and-forth, much to the amusement of Tony who looked with apathy at Percy. "How's he doing, Doc?"
Analyzing the wound carefully, Bruce responded: "The bullet penetrated his thigh, but didn't hit anything important, which is good. The bullet didn't go through the rest of the leg, so the wound didn't bleed an overwhelming amount of blood, but he still lost a significant amount of blood. It's not enough to kill him, but it will cripple him for a few days, he will be tired and maybe a little slow for the next few hours. I'm going to give Ivy fluids immediately so that he doesn't go into hypovolemic shock, but he's going to be okay. When he wakes up, he's going to be out of it, so it will be for the best to give him little cups or sips of water, then we're going to have to work him up to a normal meal. But remember, all of this happens when people are in a hospital with more time to heal."
"We don't have enough time though, that's the problem." Steve interrupted. "Loki is planning something, and we need to find out what, didn't his capture be a little…too easy? And whatever it is, Percy wasn't supposed to be in it."
"Who even is this kid?" Bruce moved around the table and checked Percy's pulse and if there were any other injury on him. "I didn't think that SHIELD kidnapped adolescents, Tony doing that makes more sense—"
"Hey!—"
"But he," Bruce gestured to Percy on the table, pale-looking and weak. "Doesn't exactly give off evil with a look. Loki, I understand, that guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."
Steve turned around and walked slowly to the table, a protective urge coming from him just from staring at the Percy's vulnerable body, "Don't worry, Doctor. Loki is being held in maximum security, he won't be escaping anytime soon."
Tony scoffed at the both of them, relieving the tension in the air but coming back in his full assholery glory, "Back on topic! This kid here, his name is Percy Jackson." Walking to one of the monitors nearby, Tony took out his phone, pressed a few buttons, and transferred the information. A picture of Percy went on the screen, along with some words on the side. "His picture is a bit younger, and most of his background is classified. But I got some basic information just from news stories in general. He, for some goddamn reason, blew up some arch, a bus, a school, a volcano, and some other stuff. His doctoral reports have shown that Percy has dyslexia and ADHD. His school records are something else entirely too, switched school to school numerous amount of times, and was bullied for most of his years. His grades aren't anything amazing, in fact, his below average in most of his classes. But he got better these recent years, ever since he switched to Midtown Science High."
Bruce looked at Tony with the most blank face that he could ever sum up, "I knew it, you like stalking people. How many times have you gone undercover like this?"
"You wouldn't be able to count, Doc. Trust me, the amount of information you find is hilarious." Tony snickered to himself, "I know for a fact that Jennifer Lopez likes Taco Tuesday. And she goes every month on the sixteenth to get some."
"Alright! Back to the subject, Stark." Tony sent a tiny glare at Steve who wasn't looking. "Percy knows something about Loki, and I think that he, with the correct persuasion, will tell us what's going to happen."
Tony's blinked rapidly at Steve, disbelief on his face. "Why do you think that this kid is going to tell us anything? He works for Loki, that just feels evil. Steve, this is one of the bad guys we were born to fight. Did you not hear what I was saying about him? Percy's been giving off evil vibes since his elementary days, he's not going to tell us anything." Tony adjusted himself to face both Steve and Bruce, "We need to wait for Fury the all clear and we can shove this kid in the cage with Shakespeare's brother."
Steve eyes widened with almost something akin to rage, "He's a kid, Tony. He has a mother, a home, friends, and a lover. He isn't just some 'bad guy!' I just saw him a day ago, protecting his friend from bullies, he took the punch and didn't fight back. That's doesn't sound like a bad guy in my book."
Growling, Tony got close and personal to Steve's face. "Yeah, well that doesn't mean that everyone with a sob story is good. You just don't get it, you don't get that the world has changed. Anyone can be evil, anyone can kill anyone. It doesn't matter if it's a father or a boy with a story, you can't trust everyone!"
As the argument continued, Percy remained listless on the bed, a nightmare being shown to his closed eyes.
The ground was on fire, New York burning in a hot and fiery glow. Percy ran through the streets, hand clutching his chest with a firm but shaky grasp, trying to breathe. Hearing footsteps, he turns to the sides and saw a man with a mask clutching Peter by the neck; he was chocking him. "P-Peter!" Percy gasped out, hand reaching out to the quivering form of his boyfriend. "Peter!"
Tony almost yelped in surprise when Percy woke up, body jerking on the bed. "What the fu—"
"Banner! He's awake!" Steve yelled, immediately coming to the aid of the boy.
Bruce ran to Percy the moment he heard him wake up, "Yeah, I think I got that. I just want to know how he woke up this early? A body that's been penetrated with a bullet should not this be fast-paced with healing."
"Why is he screaming?!" Steve demanded as he held Percy's arms with all the strength he could, because, damn, that boy is strong. But before Bruce or Tony answered, Steve already knew. He saw the blankness in Percy's eyes, the tears pooling down to his cheeks. Steve didn't have to pretend he understood Percy and what he was going through, he saw the exact same face every time he woke up in the mirror. It was the curse of a warrior, a fighter, a soldier, but Steve didn't understand how it could be on Percy's face.
Already knowing what to do, Steve waited out the nightmare, holding Percy's body with the correct amount of strength to not trigger anymore terrors. "Hey, you're okay you're okay you're okay…you're okay. You're not there anymore. You're okay."
Percy's brain was honestly a scrambled mess, he couldn't think, he felt like he couldn't breathe. Mirrors and images drowned his brain with regrets and depression. He wanted to get out, he didn't want this anymore, where's Peter? Where's Peter? Where'speterwherespeterwherespeterwherespeterwherespeterwherespeter?
"Percy!" Steve shook him, hands grasping shoulders tightly.
Letting out a gasp, Percy's eyes cleared. The image of Peter's lifeless body finally disappeared and changed into the image of a kind looking man, blue eyes filled with the same raging color and tiredness of Percy's. "What the—Steve? How did I get here?" Percy looked at his surroundings with a disgusted face, "What even is 'here'?"
"Ha, good question." Tony remarked with an annoyed smirk, eliciting a dark glare from Steve as he helped Percy sit up on the bed. "What I would like to know, is why you are affiliated with Bull Stick? Oh come on," he exclaimed from the confused faces of everyone in the room. "Bull Stick, green coat, sounds like an obnoxious cow and could stick a tea bag up his ass." From the confused faces, Tony rolled his eyes, "Loki!"
Steve shook his head, "Now is not the time, Tony. We can ask him all those questions later. From what I can recall, he had a bullet in his leg not too long ago." He turned to Percy, the boy looking…afraid? "We were in Germany, fighting Loki. Someone tried to shoot him, but you blocked it for him. We couldn't let you bleed out, and you probably have some information for us, so we took you on the Quinjet before taking you here; the Helicarrior.
Percy honest-to-God couldn't believe anything Steve was saying, well, he could, but he just didn't want to. Laying his arm on the side, Percy used it to help himself stand up "I have to leave. If Loki is on…whatever we are on, then I shouldn't be here. This isn't a part of the plan."
Tony took this moment to interrupt, his head titled in a curious manner as he approached the wary Percy. "Yeah, so, what is the 'plan?' What is Loki planning and why are you apart of it?" Every word that came out of Tony's mouth slowly grew with malevolence, his eyes spitting venom.
"And those questions will be answered soon, Mr. Stark." Fury's voice called from the doorway, his body hidden in both the shadows of secrets and darkness. "Mr. Jackson," said person turned to him, an eyebrow raised on his face with apathy. "Welcome aboard the Helicarrior, we hope that you make your stay comfortable." On cue, guards appeared through the doorway with guns pointing at him. "We don't want to hurt you."
Percy's eyebrow went higher, along with a deadly smirk coming on his face. "I call bullshit." From his comment, Tony's lip quirked up. "What do you want from me?"
"Information." Fury replied, "Loki has a plan, like Mr. Stark said, and we need to know how he's going to enact that plan. Thor already told us what he's going to do, we just need to have the blueprints. So, Mr. Jackson, will you comply?"
Shrugging, Percy followed the men down the hallways to an empty room. Inside was a metal table with handcuffs connected to the top. Near the side was a cold, metal chair that Percy situated himself upon while the guards grabbed his hands and cuffed them. What Percy didn't know, is that if he tried escaping, pulling on the chain that connected the cuffs to the table too hard, he would be electrocuted and knocked out within seconds. "So, what do you want to know?"
Fury pulled the chair out and sat down, hands interlocking. "This isn't like the movies, Mr. Jackson. Our questions are different, our methods are different." Fury continued on, "It had come to our attention that we were a lot smaller than we thought we were when a powerful God landing in our midst. Or when a blue cube called the Tesseract brought that alien's brother and let him destroy one of our bases and kill many of our scientists and agents. We already knew before then that Earth is not the only planet out there with intelligent life forms, but we didn't know that they would bring the war to us."
Eyes narrowed and back straight, Percy looked at Fury with distaste. "What are you talking about? What is even the point of this?"
"The point is, Mr. Jackson, that Loki is trying to bring a violent, alien race to come destroy our planet while he rules on an iron throne. Families will be slaughtered, humans will be enslaved, our world will be in ruins just because some stupid, yet powerful, little boy wanted to help."
"I didn't want to help!" With Percy's outburst, a crack ran through the ceiling and walls, the handcuffs on the table shattering to dust.
Guards immediately surrounded the room with guns, once again, pointed at Percy. Fury merely raised a brow at what he called a childish tantrum. With a small signal the guards handcuffed Percy again with newer cuffs. "Be careful, Mr. Jackson, one might think you're a superpowered terrorist trying to destroy the entire planet." A tick appeared on Percy's forehead much to the amusement of Fury. "What does Loki have on you that would make a boy like you help him in his efforts?" Sighing deeply, Fury dropped a file on table.
Opening it, Percy could see pictures of him and Connor and Travis walking down the street, him and Peter in the grocery store buying some vegetables and milk, pictures of friends that weren't here anymore.
His past stared at him, picture by picture with guilt on the edges, they were staring at Percy, telling him of the people he just couldn't save. "I don't want to look at those anymore."
Fury flattened his lips before removing the file off the table, but not before taking one picture out of his coat (robe? Whatever, Percy didn't care) pocket. "Sorry, Mr. Jackson, I know you're still grieving over your friends. But, before we end, we want to talk about this young man." Fury flung a single picture of Peter on the table, he was looking to the side, obviously at Percy, with a smile on his face and holding school books in his hands. "You've been seen with him for quite a while now, from what we can observe. After your sudden reappearance in New York, your grades have been steadily going up, ever since you met him." Fury tapped on Peter's face, a question held in his eyes. "Who is he to you, Mr. Jackson? A friend?"
Percy's blood boiled like scalding, hot water. "Don't you dare bring him into this too, you—" A click happened in his brain before he finished his sentence, a stone in his heart dropped to his stomach. "…oh shit."
Fury raised an eyebrow, "'To,' Mr. Jackson? Who else is in the fray?" But before he could answer, Fury continued, he had pieced the puzzle together the moment the words were blurted out. "Your other friends? Ned Leeds, perhaps? You seem buddies with him just as well as Mr. Parker over here. Or," Fury took out another picture from the file he had set down. "Is it your mother?" Percy tensed at the sight, giving all the answers that Fury needed. "Mr. Jackson, we can save your mother. We can protect her, we just need to know what Loki is doing."
Green eyes drowned brown with anger, clashing at each other, one with immense power, and one with words and deceit. "You don't understand what you're doing. You're provoking him, he's a god and you're human, what do you think is going to be the outcome of a fight like that?"
Fury straightened his back, his posture commandeering. "And you would rather have aliens invade our planet and kill everyone just because you were too weak. You're pathetic, Mr. Jackson, the whole world's population is in your hands and you refuse to comply."
Another life, billions of them, perishing because Percy was way too pathetic and weak to intervene. Percy dropped his glare and resigned himself on the chair, shoulders drooping in submission. "Fine," Fury growled. "Give him the serum, maybe we can get some truth out of him that way."
"But sir!"
Fury looked at them darkly before tilted his head in forgiveness at Percy. "Do it. And I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson, that it had to be this way. This will be over soon."
Percy almost shuddered at the sight of the syringe, memories of pain, imprisonment, and Tartarus all flashing back at him. The scar on his shoulder burned at the sight. "What is that?" He whispered meekly.
A scientist hesitantly brought it over at the snap of Fury's fingers, and filled it with a dark, green liquid. "It's a sedative, but also causes a reaction in your brain to cause realistic-like nightmares, your body will be completely calm during this entire process, so if you're worried that you'll injure yourself, then there's need to worry yourself, young man."
Percy blinked slowly, eyes completely empty of emotion. "Yeah, I was totally worried about that." The scientist smiled, but Percy knew that it was completely fake. "Are you a psychopath, you seem like one? Bald, smells like beer bottles, you remind me of someone."
"Oh?" noised the scientist, actual curiosity on their face. "Where is that someone now?"
Percy gave an aimless shrug, "I dunno, gone."
From the tapping the glass, Percy could see the liquid slosh in it's case. He wondered, maybe if he could just control it, the liquid could cause the glass to break and he didn't have to go through whatever bullshit this was. The scientist just massaged Percy's neck, indifferent to Percy's thoughts. "Did they leave?"
Before the scientist pierced his skin with the needle, Percy glared at him, "No." Percy's eyes darkened as a slight smirk formed on his lips, "He's dead."
The scientist stilled, eyes twitching before piercing Percy's skin and injected the liquid into his bloodstream. "Sweet dreams, Mr. Jackson."
"You can count on it, dipshit."
"That boy is completely juvenile, you should just kill him and get this over with." He sneered, spit flying out his mouth as he tapped away with his tablet, fingers flying with speed. "He's a killer, nothing but a child from the scraps. Bet his parents were like this too."
Fury looked over at the miffed scientist with raised eyebrows, "Not all of us are savages, Mr. White."
"No," Mr. White slurred with annoyance. "Just people like him, brats with no purpose to life. The program is almost complete, in a few seconds, his mind will be completely submerged in the nightmare." The scientist looked at his screen, staring at the button that would start it all. "I don't understand why we still use this, it's ineffective most of the time."
"Mr. Jackson is powerful, Mr. White. He knows things, more than we will ever understand. He's met a god who has threatened the very safety of his family and friends, there's nothing, to him, scarier than that." Fury explained, "So, we put something even scarier in his head to make him cooperate. Something that is scarier than the fear of god."
Mr. White looked with disdain at Percy, hand adjusting his glasses. "If this boy is as strong as you say, then this simulation will cripple him at best, he'll be back and running sooner than later. We don't need that on our hands, Director. Cripples like him are still dangerous, we need something to put him down, permanently."
Grabbing the tablet out of the scientist's hand, Fury tapped in more commands then pushed the button, Percy's body becoming taut before relaxing in his seat. "And that something is on their way." Fury circled his finger in the air, "Everyone needs to go behind the glass. Make sure that nothing goes wrong in this, we don't want to give Mr. Jackson permanent brain damage. No we don't, Mr. White." Fury added with emphasis at the sight of the glare on the scientist's face.
Fury stood behind the computers, examining them all by one with a constant eye. "Talk to me people, what's happening?"
"His heartrate is neutralizing. Panic rates going down…lower…lower…calmed. Sir, are you sure we can't put him in a more stable environment? His body can react differently and cause him to injure himself." One of doctors on duty asked, body turning from the computer. Her words elicited a few nods in agreement. This was for them: a strange scenario. The dreamscape hallucination was created for uses of therapy, to help the victim understand and face their fears. The dreamscape wasn't yet released to the public and stayed in SHIELD's files for months, scientists and doctors working on perfecting the program. So, to use their program as a tool to hurt…it set a fiery and scalding hot guilt settle in their stomach.
But, orders are orders.
"Do not worry, Mrs. Miranda." Fury responded, voice empty of any emotion, much to the annoyance of everyone on the room. "Mr. Jackson will be fine and under control, just continue with the program and we will have everything we need."
Isabel Miranda sighed, continuing with her typing. "T-2, he's now under the simulation. God help him. God help us all."
Fury looked at the sleeping boy sharply, "God won't help us, Mrs. Miranda. We have him stuck in our containment room."
Percy's body woke up before his mind did, his hands twitching and grabbing at the soft ground, his feet touching something wet that receded before he could understand what it was.
Eyes flittering open, Percy could see the bright blue sky of New York, birds circling in the air. "What the hell?" Percy forced his body to sit up, groaning at the soreness of his back and neck. He looked at his surroundings with confusion and absolute awe, he felt the sand in his hands and the water kissing his feet.
Percy felt the nausea hit him the moment he stood up, "Ow, dammit." He raised a hand to his forehead, massaging it slowly.
"Are you getting migraines again? God, Percy, I told you we should have brought your meds." The high-pitched voice that was screaming in his face did not help at all. "He doesn't look fine, Peter." A hand suddenly rested on his forehead, and Percy violently flinched back. If the person noticed his pain, they didn't say anything, or maybe they didn't care. "He doesn't have a fever from what I could tell, he must've had a flashback from the flinch."
Blinking rapidly, Percy's eyes finally focused on the figure in front of him. And Jesus Christ, the very sight of her pulled Percy's heartstrings, same blonde hair, same piercing grey eyes. Donning a tank top and denim shorts, with a hoodie hugging her wait, and the same New York cap in her hands.
Annabeth was alive, and she was staring right at him. There wasn't any anger in her eyes, just annoyance from something that Percy probably did.
But something was different, something changed about her that Percy didn't quite understand till he finally noticed. Annabeth wasn't only alive, she was older. Probably in her twenties from what Percy could tell. "I think I'm dead. Where am I? Elysium?"
"Um, are you drunk?" Annabeth approached Percy hesitantly, grabbing his shoulders. "Maybe you're going through withdrawal because of the meds. We should take you home."
Percy pushed Annabeth's hands away, shock evident on her face. "I don't understand what is happening. I don't understand how you're" he gestured to her, "alive. You—you can't be alive. I saw you die. I clutched your body as you left, as you left me!" Percy's body shook with every word, hands that flailed in the air now clutching his abdomen. The strength went out of Percy's legs, his knees touching the sand. Tears fled out of Percy's eyes, soaking his shirt. The edges of his vision blackened around Annabeth as nail-shaped crescents were added to the scars of his stomach.
"Annabeth, let me do this. I think he's having another attack." Yet another voice cut through Percy's mind, but this one was different, softer. "Hey, Percy, you think you can breathe normally for me? Just, take slower breathes." A warm hand was placed on his back, rubbing Percy slowly.
The voice was soothing, too soothing, a familiar sense of warmth spreading through Percy's body without his permission, it was as if his body just knew who that person was and that they were safe. "No, we're okay. You don't need to call an ambulance, sir, he just needs to get home."
"He's attracting people, Peter. We need to get him home right now." Annabeth chided, grabbing Percy's arms by his head lightly and separating them from their locked position.
"I don't know. He never really likes it when we're near his home though, actually, he's really against it. Last time, he wasn't answering the phone, so I walked to his house. I didn't even knock on the door and he was angry at me. I don't think it's a good idea if we go their now, what if he hates us afterwards?"
"He's Percy, he doesn't hate people, or hold grudges. C'mon, if he gets mad, then let me deal with him."
Percy heard Peter whine with disagreement before pushing Percy on his back, holding his legs tightly while letting Percy's arms dangle over his shoulders. Peter would never say it, but he was secretly happy when Percy subconsciously smothered his face in Peter's neck, curling to the warmth being given to him. Peter's been crushing on Percy for the longest time, even before he started dating Annabeth. But, in the end, they were the best of friends, and Peter knew that best friends never really get together.
Percy deserved better, that was what Peter thought when he started dating Annabeth. He definitely believed that when Annabeth cheated on him for Reyna and left Percy broken in the dust for Peter to pick up the pieces. Honestly, Peter didn't know why Annabeth and Percy continued being friends after the breakup, she cheated on him and didn't care what she did to him afterwards. But when Peter asked him about it, Percy vaguely mentioned that he "understood" what she was going through and was going through it too, so they decided to stick with each other, whatever that meant.
Still, that didn't mean that Annabeth had the warrant to be a little bitchy ever time she was talking or with Percy. Peter guesses that she wasn't the only affected by the breakup considering that Percy worshiped her and that she had never felt that glorified love before.
"Something still doesn't feel right about this," Peter whispered softly, a weird feeling coming through his gut.
"I don't give a shit, Peter." Annabeth snorted, "Just find his house keys and we can take care of him when we get inside the house."
Peter glared at her while tightening his hold on Percy, she didn't deserve a man like Percy. Peter was sure that Annabeth didn't mean to be rude to Percy, it was just her own way of being worried, but her character clashed with Percy's in a way that she wouldn't understand. Annabeth was blunt, too blunt. She didn't like to shy away from things she knows her mind can crack or fix, but Percy, he dances around things like a professional. He's more of the "wait till my problems go away" kind of guy, preferring to just ignore all the wrong things in this world.
Peter shuffled in his pockets for the keys to Percy's house, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Annabeth. "You have his house keys." It wasn't a question, but more a like a statement with confusion fused into it.
He shrugged aimlessly, "He never lets me in."
Annabeth's eyes narrowed, "You have his house keys."
Not being able to find the keys in his pockets, Peter gently laid Percy down and shuffles through his backpack, going through the pockets. "Whatever."
"Percy never lets anyone in his house, but you have his house keys. Have you ever just wondered what his house looks like, if he has a sister or a father?" Annabeth looks at Peter impatiently and slightly judging him a little.
He let out a frustrated growl as he grabbed the keys from the smallest pocket. "I, for one, don't like snooping around in people's business, Annabeth. It's called "trust," heard of it? Oh yeah, that's right, you lost that with Percy when you broke up with him for Reyna. Wait, more like cheated on him."
Annabeth might as well as dropped Percy, she put a dark glare on him that Peter had already seen, just much worse. "You understand nothing!"
"Is there anything to understand?! You could have just told him you were gay! You didn't have to sneak around his back for an entire year, did you think that he would judge you?" Peter was almost yelling now, "Did you have any idea what you were doing to him when he found out you cheated? He stayed with you Annabeth, he felt like he was nothing and worth nothing. Even when you left he wasn't mad!"
Annabeth had the gall to look guilty, "Whatever, just as long as he's okay now. You can take care of him, I can tell you love him. And now, you have the chance. I'll see you later, Peter."
If Peter's eyes can roll anymore back, he'd be dead. Kneeling down, Peter raked a hand through Percy's hair. "Do you think you can stand, Percy?" From the way that Percy's eyes seemed glazed, Peter didn't really think so, but he had asked anyway, trying to trigger the boy back to reality. He kneeled down, hand hesitant to touch Percy, but anything to get the boy out of this dead state would make Peter grateful. He slowly slipped a hand to Percy's cheek, caressing it like a lover would. Peter would have removed it immediately, but from the way Percy just leaned into it, Peter wouldn't dare.
"Why am I here?" Percy whispered, eyes staring with a sad blankness. "How can they torture me like this? Where am I?"
Peter shook his head, "What are you talking about? You're here with me, Annabeth just left, but I can get her if you want."
Percy just grasped Peter's hand tightly, "No, please don't leave. I had dreamt of this for so long; Annabeth, alive and well. My friends, Jason, Piper, and everyone else, are they here?"
"Percy," Peter chuckled slightly, but that didn't hide the sweat that appeared on his brow or the way they slithered down on his shaky hands. Whatever Percy was going through, screwed him over hard. "Jason and Piper are in California, they're married and have a kid on the way. Percy…" Peter removed his hand from Percy's face and held both of his hands tightly. "Where do you think you are? Was it a flashback, what happened?"
Percy's hands shook, eye-sight blurring and focusing. "I don't want to be here anymore, you're just a nightmare, you're not real." His hands grasped Peter's shirt tightly in his hands, not wanting to let go. "This isn't real, this isn't real." Peter looked at him in concern as he started rocking back and forth, "That wasn't Annabeth and you're not Peter, you aren't my Peter."
"Percy," Peter whispered, a plea in his voice as Percy's hands moved from his shirt to his face. He couldn't handle the pain, Peter clutched his heart as if it was shot. "I don't understand, I'm sorry, I don't understand." Peter stood up and looked dimply at the crying boy on the floor. What had Percy meant when he said "He wasn't his Peter?" It's as if Percy was saying that Peter was his in the first place, and Peter didn't like to think that. He didn't want to believe that all this time, Percy had Peter were together, because they weren't…weren't they? "I'm going to put you to bed, maybe you can wake up from whatever is happening to you."
Percy could only nod, stuffing his hands full of the dirt on the ground and pressing the bits into his palm. He just wanted to wake up, and Percy could only wake up if it was pain. He listened to the crowd of people around the streets, listening to their voices and conversations, the words filled with emotions. He listened to the cars on the road, tires skidding and the loud pumps of horns that created the atmosphere of New York. Though all of this, Percy was able to breath, if only just for a little.
But that peace ended.
Percy's eyes widened, how can that man be alive? He thought he killed him, Percy could swear that he was gone from the Jackson household forever. A movie started playing in his head, scenes of the man hitting a woman to the ground, tears in her eyes. A little boy runs up to the man, screaming and hitting him on the leg, but only stopped short when the man slaps the boy to the ground and starts kicking him, a grunt for every kick. The scene changes, the boy is older now, hyperventilating and hands stuck in cuffs that are tied to a leg of the table. Feet are on his back, every once and a while changing positions. The boy whimpers and the person's foot kicks at him, a voice tells him to stay still or worse things will happen.
"The fuck you want, you little twat?" A man growled.
The mere voice of Percy's worst nightmare broke him out of his stupor. Percy tried to focus on his surroundings again. He heard everything; the sound of Peter's gasp from the voice of him, he could even smell the disgusting odor from outside. "Sorry, I was here to drop off Percy? He said that his house was here." Peter whimpered, taking a step back and placing a hand on Percy's shoulder, unknowingly calming the shaking boy from his panic attack. Thank the gods for Peter Parker.
But before he could even think or take another step back, Peter felt his entire body move backwards, hands fleeing to the sides to catch himself before he injured his body from falling to the ground. "Percy, what are—"
"Get out of here." Percy took a step in-front of him, hands clenched and body blocking Peter's frame on the ground from the eyesight of the ugly and obese man leaning on the doorframe. "I said leave, Peter." He turned around and noticed Peter on the ground, staring at him with those concerned he fell in love with. Percy's eyes and throat burned, "Leave!"
Hands scrambled for purchase, Peter leaving the ground and running away in a scramble. His head turned back one last time, an uneasy feeling in his stomach making him memorize everything he saw in Percy. But, even as Peter continued to run, he didn't know that—in this world—it would be the last he ever saw Percy again. The news would say suicide because of the letter left behind, but Peter would know what happened: Percy's step-father abused him till he died and wrote a letter before setting his step-son on fire, being free from any law that persecuted him for murder.
The moment Peter left, Percy felt his confidence leave him, his legs becoming like noodles. "G-Gabe, you're back."
The rotund man took a swig from a bottle before throwing it behind it, glass shattering all over the floor. Gabe smiled at the sight of his step-son's flinch. "Are you off your meds or something? I knew that something was up, should haven't spent all that fucking money on a piece of shit like you if you're not going to take them."
"Oh, is the little snot back?" A voice called out from behind Gabe. Mark, one of the more frequent poker players who's been in Percy's life more than Poseidon has ever been.
Before Percy could retreat back from the house, Gabe grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and threw him inside the house. Percy's releases a yelp from the feeling of glass in his stomach from all the broken beer bottles on the ground. He looked at the interior, his once beautiful home is nothing more than a memory as the old interior of the house is reduced back to what it was when he was with his abusive step-father. "Where do you think you're going, you stupid little shit? Going to crawl back to your friends, going to run away again?"
He could only yelp as a foot stepped on his back, the cuts on his stomach stinging from the push, Percy's body immobile on the floor. "I don't understand what you're talking about…" Percy whimpered as the weight on his back got heavier. "Please…it hurts."
Gabe laughed and turned him over before kicking him in the stomach, eliciting a pained shout from the body under him. "Begging me now? You're just like your mother, weak."
Percy could only flinch as Gabe's saliva hit his face, the smell of alcohol triggering a panic attack. He curled into a ball, hands covering his head. He didn't know what to do, thoughts and old habits returning to him. He wasn't seventeen anymore, or twenty in this universe, but a ten-year-old boy afraid of his step-father. "Please please please…stop."
Gabe only sneered as he grabbed Percy by his hair and dragged him to the table filled with smug-filled poker players. "I feed you, I give you a bed to sleep on and you're being an ungrateful little shit! Fuck it, give me the handcuffs, David."
Percy froze, he felt like he couldn't breathe. "No no no. Please don't! Please! Gabe, don't do this!" He hated those handcuffs, he still had old scars around his wrists from them. Percy could only remember the feelings of hopelessness as his old self thrashed, the metal tearing and ripping into his wrists.
David, another one of Gabe's disgusting poker friend, laughed and grabbed his arms, putting them over his head. Percy only thrashed harder. "Damn, he's feisty. Pull him over to the table, I need a foot rest anyway."
Multiple laughs came from over to the table, all the men moving around as it could be easier transferring the scared boy to the table.
They handcuffed him down, tears of pain and fear cascading down Percy's face. "I'll behave I'll behave. Please don't do this. Please let me go."
Fury was an emotionless man yes, but this was cruel in a way he would never be able to understand. "Let him out, Mr. White." He stated, eyes glazing over the screen. "Mr. Jackson has had enough, and lock those doors, we wouldn't want anything to happen when we continue with the interrogation."
The man clicked his tongue, "No wonder he's such a barbarian, like father like son." Mr. White shrugged off Fury's one-eyed glare, pressing a few buttons and removing Percy from that hellish mindscape. "Doors are locked, last few checks are done. He will be…groggy when waking up and a little twitchy because of the side-effects, but unfortunately, I don't see any damage to his brain. Mr. Jackson will be fine, I suggest you give him water because he will be severely dehydrated." Mr. White opened the door before he paused, "The next time you make me watch something like that or use my creation like that again, Nicholas, expect my two-weeks' notice on your desk effective immediately."
Both men eyed each other, a pause filled with competition before being broken by Fury. "Understood, Mr. White. When we set the carrier down, wish your niece a happy birthday for me."
Mr. White pushes his glasses from falling down his oily nose, "I would hardly think she would want a 'Happy Birthday' from you, but farewell."
"Asshat has a niece? What a surprise. Next, you're going to tell me he has a wife. Wait, if he does, does he go to marriage counseling?" Fury didn't even turn to Mr. Jackson, calmly looking at the one-sided window that showed his reflection.
Fury slowly turned around, giving a slight nod with hands holding behind his back. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Mr. Jackson. Hope you had a nice walk back, because it's going to be getting worse."
A/N: Wow, that took a long time, about a week to create. Sorry for taking so long! Basically something happened that made me lose everything. I had to get a new laptop and re-write an entire chapter. But I have it now, I hope you all like it. Yeet okay. So, I have encountered a little time problem here that was made my Marvel, and I am severely annoyed. In the movie, Spiderman: Homecoming, just pretend those events happened a bit earlier. I'm making my own timeline! Who's the boss now, dammit!? Ugh, this just got so much more complicated. I literally just watched the movie and went, oh crap, because of the 8-year time skip. That, I am pretty sure, is a mistake on Marvel's part, if you don't think so, just watch Cinema Wins for Spiderman: Homecoming, you'll understand then. But anyway, that's all? I think. I'm just adding to this as I go. Also, sorry about the abuse part. The abuse part in the old chapter was very long and vey descriptive. Honestly, I don't think I can write that again. It just…I literally had such a hard time writing that part because of memories and so I had to end it really early. Sorry about that, but you'll have to deal with it. Also, I have a beta reader now! I would like to thank PsychopathOnADiet (on fanfiction, go check out their stuff) for helping me with this. They haven't beta-read this chapter yet, but when they do, I'll be updating it and you can read the better version then. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.
