A/N: Hello, all you lovely people. I just wanted to say that the feedback on this story is amazing! You should see all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. Seriously, guys, I have over 150 reviews! Thanks for all you support, and enjoy the chapter. This chapter's pretty light, so you don't have to worry about being depressed. Oh, and I know a lot of you want Percy to have a flashback with the Avengers soon, but I'd like to ask you to wait! I've got some things planned for my little characters, so you'll just have to see how that goes.
Disclaimer: If I don't own my babies by Chapter Ten, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to own them.
Chapter Ten
I woke up not knowing where I was.
Don't freak out, I told myself. Just figure out where you are. What's the last thing you remember? Come on, stupid brain, think.
I was lying on something soft, and a blanket was tucked snugly around my shoulders. I opened my eyes, and it all came rushing back at me.
I was on the couch. We had moved here after last night's—actually this morning's—events. I didn't know I had fallen asleep watching TV. I must have been comforted by the thought that if I had another nightmare, the team would wake me. Not to mention I was exhausted.
That thought stopped me for a moment. Since when had I become so trusting of the team? I barely even knew them. Literally. I knew nothing about them: where they came from, their family, any part of their life story, really. But I still felt comfortable around them.
I should probably get up, I thought to myself lazily. Who knew what time of the day it was.
I sat up and stifled a groan. Okay, so using all the power and energy I had last night seemed like a good idea in the moment, but definitely not good the morning after. I had aches and pains all over my body. I must have really been out of practice. When was the last time I had used up that much energy? The end of the Second War? My under-used muscles certainly agreed with me.
"Good morning, sunshine," a cheery voice said behind me. I looked over my shoulder, still trying to blink the sleep out of my eyes. It was Tony, of course.
"Ugh, what time is it?" I asked blearily.
"Bout two o'clock," Tony replied carelessly.
"Two o'clock?" I echoed, surprised. The blanket fell off my shoulders and settled around my waist.
"Yeah, no one wanted to wake you up," he said. "You fell asleep at around seven, if you wanted to know. We all took little cat naps of our own while you were asleep."
I grimaced guiltily. "Oh gods, I didn't keep you up, did I? Sorry, it was a stupid move last night, and I shouldn't have done it. I really don't know what I was think—"
"It's fine," Tony interrupted, waving a hand as if to bat away my apologies. "Everyone needs to let off some steam every once in a while, and I'm glad you decided to do it here. It's fine if you want to go to the pool and just completely let off all your power . . ." he trailed off, looking wistful for a second. "You know what? We'll talk about this in the kitchen with the others. You're probably starving." He shook himself. "Come on."
"Yeah, okay." I got up, or actually attempted to get up. I fell back onto the couch with a huff. "Ow," I muttered.
Tony chuckled. "Need some help getting up, old man?"
"No," I snapped, still trying to ineffectually push my arms in a way where it wouldn't hurt. Tony just laughed some more and held up his hands, like he was surrendering. He walked into the kitchen on his perfectly functioning, very much not sore legs. I scowled at his retreating form.
After finally waddling my way to the kitchen, I saw that the whole team was there. I saw a plate of food was laid out on the table for me. Of course, plate might not actually be the right term. It was more like a small platter, filled with all kinds of different food. There was some steak and chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans, and about four kinds of fruit.
I raised my eyebrows at the spread. "I didn't know a small army was coming to eat here."
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Shut up, sit down, and eat your food," she said, smiling slightly.
I shrugged and gingerly sat down. I glared at Tony when he started snickering. "Shut up, Tony."
"I didn't say any—" He cut himself off when he saw my glare intensify. "Shutting up."
I returned to my food, wondering what I should have first. I decided on the chicken. I picked up a leg and started chomping on it. I paused when I felt the team's eyes on me. My chicken remained suspended in the air on its way to my mouth awkwardly.
"You okay, Percy?" Clint finally said.
"You aren't talking about right now at this moment, are you?" I asked, carefully taking another bite of the chicken.
"So, we're going to take that as a no?" Bruce asked.
"Take that as an I don't know," I corrected. I finished off the last of the chicken and moved on to the mashed potatoes that were practically calling my name. "Right now I'm just fine, if that's what you're asking."
"This morning at two A.M. you weren't," Natasha pointed out softly.
I winced. "Yeah, no I wasn't." I felt the mashed potatoes lose their flavor in my mouth at the change of subject. I kept eating anyway, but not with as much enthusiasm. Even though the food was really, really great.
"What is wrong, young friend? What ails you?" Thor asked, concerned.
"Honestly, I don't know." I ran a hand through my hair, making it stick up in all directions. "The gods sent me here to help you," I said. "But they didn't just send me here for that."
"What else did they send you for?" Tony frowned in thought.
I hesitated but decided I might as well tell them. It might even make things easier. "They said that you could help me, too."
"What? What do you need help with?" Bruce said confused.
"You see, that's what I'm trying to figure out." I speared a few green beans with my fork and stuffed them in my mouth. "The gods said that I'm lost, or something like that, and that I need to find myself."
"What does that mean?" Clint snagged a green bean from my plate absently.
" I'm sure you're getting as tired of hearing this as I am of saying it, but I really don't know." I sighed. "The gods never give a straight answer." Thunder boomed outside and the team looked at Thor curiously. Thor shook his head at them. I rolled my eyes. "Well, it's true," I told the thunder.
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Wait, was that them?"
"Yes, that was Zeus. He probably doesn't like what I'm saying about them." I waved my hand around vaguely. "I don't know what they're actually saying, but I can figure pretty closely."
They all shrugged, and Clint stole another green bean, crunching on it thoughtfully. "So, what was that this morning?"
I groaned and covered my face with my hands. "A very typical not-smart decision brought to you by an idiot named Percy Jackson." I uncovered my face. "It was impulsive and stupid, and I definitely shouldn't have done that."
Bruce gave me a knowing look. "Percy, everyone needs the chance—"
"If you're gonna say 'let off some steam' then Tony already beat you to it," I interrupted. Bruce frowned at Tony but didn't say anything. "Besides, it was dangerous doing that," I went on.
"What do you mean dangerous?" Natasha asked.
I hesitated. "Well, I could have hurt you guys." They gave me confused looks, so I elaborated. "I could have hurt anybody, really. I could have lost control just for a second, and suddenly there's an earthquake somewhere or a storm or something. Anything could have happened." I shook my head. "So I don't think I'll be doing that again."
"You're leaving something out, Percy," Steve said, scanning over me intently with his eyes. "You didn't explain why you did it."
I swallowed. "I had a dream on the roof when I went to just go relax up there. Well, it wasn't actually a dream; it was a nightmare."
"Okay so you had a really bad nightmare?" Tony asked cautiously. "That still doesn't sound like all of it."
"That's because it's not." I shrugged a shoulder. "I would have been fine with just the nightmare. Well, not fine, but I can deal with those by themselves usually unless they're really serious." I had to force the next words out of my throat. It went against my instinct to tell them this since I hadn't told anyone, not even Annabeth, about how bad everything was. I didn't want them to worry. "It was the flashback that put me over the edge."
Tony got a weird look in his eye after that but didn't say anything.
"What happened after that?" Bruce prompted helpfully.
"Well, after a while I went back inside." I tried to remember what happened after that since the details were a little fuzzy. "Um, then I think I went back to my room for a few minutes. And then I went to the pool and tried to use up all the energy I could without overheating so I could fall asleep without a nightmare."
Clint whistled under his breath. "Geez, kid, why didn't you tell us?"
I shrugged again. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Why do you think a Hero of Olympus and leader of a camp won't tell anyone anything that's really been happening to him lately?"
Thor's eyes widened a little bit. "Wait, young leader. You surely are not implying that you have told no one of this? Not even your young friend, Annabeth?"
I shook my head. "Not the whole truth. I have to convince everyone I'm okay after the kind of war we've just been through so that they're okay."
"You have to be strong for everyone," Steve summed up. He looked like he got what I was saying.
"If the leader can't handle what's happening, then they think they can't. Even though they're all a lot stronger than they think they are," I said.
"Well, you belong on the team then, Percy, for sure. You've had as much crap happen to you as we've had happen to us," Tony said, tapping his arc reactor.
"I guess so," I conceded. I waited for a moment to see if anyone would break the silence. Tony did first, as usual.
"You know what we need to do?" Tony asked with his eyes gleaming.
"What?" Bruce asked warily. He probably knew all too well what Tony's ideas were like.
"What's something all normal kids Percy's age do besides making out with each other and texting all day long?" Tony asked, practically bouncing out of his chair with enthusiasm.
"I have no idea," I said truthfully. The others were also wearing very confused faces.
"Ice cream!" Tony said with a huge grin. "They go get ice cream with their buddies!"
"They do?" Natasha asked skeptically.
"They do?" Clint echoed with a frown.
"They do!" Tony confirmed.
"I would like to have more of this creamed ice, also," Thor agreed.
"There's one problem," I interrupted before Tony could really get going.
Tony wrinkled his nose. "Like what?"
"You're the Avengers," I pointed out. "People are going to know who you are. Especially Tony."
Tony visibly deflated. "Dang it, I forgot about that. How are we going to get ice cream, then?"
"Why don't we go to the grocery store?" Steve suggested.
"That seems like a logical choice to me," Thor said.
"To the store it is," I said. Gods help me. Who knew how our impromptu trip to the grocery store was going to turn out?
It turns out I was one hundred percent correct, for once. Going to the grocery store with six superheroes was not the best idea at all.
"But I don't want that one," Tony persisted. "I want banana pudding."
"No," Natasha said, dangerously low. "We're getting cookie dough."
"I do not know what to get," Thor said almost miserably, looking at all of the different kinds the store offered. "I do not know what is considered good on Midgard."
"Cookie Dough," Natasha told him over her shoulder. She went back to glaring at Tony.
"I think plain vanilla would be good, but I don't mind much," Steve said, watching the soon-to-be fight that would break out between Tony and Natasha.
"I haven't had ice cream in a long time," Bruce admitted to anyone who would listen. "Maybe I should just get Rocky Road."
"I don't know if I want Happy Trails or Strawberry," Clint said to himself, completely ignoring everyone else and looking at the flavors contemplatively.
"Banana Pudding is way better," Tony said.
"Sure it's good. But not as good as Cookie Dough," Natasha shot back.
"Okay, compromise. Get your own flavor, and you can each have a little of each other's when we get back to the tower. Okay?"I said a touch desperately.
They all turned to me slowly as if they just realized I was still with them. Tony rubbed his goatee. "That's a good idea. I've got enough money with me for all of us to have our own anyway."
So we ended up getting our own flavor and going to the register with seven tubs of ice cream.
"Oh, wait!" Tony said as we started to put our stuff on the counter. "I forgot whipped cream and cherries and chocolate syrup and caramel syrup!" He dashed away to get it.
"Can you please wait a moment, ma'am?" I asked the lady at the register politely.
She popped her gum and said, "Whatever."
"I better go check on Tony," Steve said. He walked away to go find Tony.
After five minutes, I started to get worried. I told the others I was going to go see Tony and Steve and strode quickly over to the nearest aisle to begin searching.
On my fifth aisle, I found Tony sprawled out on the floor trying to pick up the cherries he'd spilled everywhere from breaking the jar. Steve was trying to pick up all of the cans that he'd knocked over.
"Guys," I groaned. "Come on, seriously?"
They looked up and smiled sheepishly. "It was an accident," they said in unison.
I rolled my eyes. "Come on."
They left the mess in the aisle and followed after me to the register.
When Tony came around the corner with his shirt stained with cherry juice, Clint snickered, Bruce sighed, Thor just looked confused, and Natasha tried to hide a grin.
"What happened to—" Thor began to say.
I held up a hand. "You don't want to go there. Let's just get our ice cream and go before someone sees us. Or before Tony breaks something else."
The lady at the checkout counter looked at us weird for a moment, then decided we aren't worth her time. She checked out the ice cream, and we walked out the door with a bag each.
"I wonder if we have any whipped cream at the tower," Tony mumbled to himself after a while.
"I sincerely hope not considering your past experiences with it," Bruce said, not bothering to look at Tony.
Clint opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by someone else who was definitely not on the team talking.
"Oh. My. Gosh," a hushed voice said behind us.
I froze for a moment, then turned around slowly. I cursed under my breath. Standing in front of us was a girl of about fifteen with an Avengers shirt on. Her blonde hair was in a high ponytail. She was staring at us with her mouth open. Then she started smiling really big, and I knew she was going to scream before she could open her mouth.
"Wait!" I nearly shouted. She paused for a moment, looking curiously at me. "I know what you're thinking. You think that they're the Avengers, right? Well, I hate to tell you, but these people aren't the Avengers," I said, improvising on the spot. "They are the Avengers' doubles. They walk around town incognito so that people will follow them instead of the real Avengers."
She looked suspicious for a moment, but thankfully bought it. "So that means the real Avengers are walking around town right now," she squealed with her eyes so wide, I thought they were going to fall out.
I tried for my best smile. "That's right. And I'll give you a little secret since you managed to catch us off guard." I leaned forward conspiratorially. "Last I heard they went to the park to eat some ice cream. I don't know if they're still there, but it's your best lead."
"Really?" the girl breathed.
"That what we overheard them saying," I confirmed. "Right, Paul?" I asked Tony, silently telling him to go with it.
He gave her his best dazzling smile. "That's right. Besides, we couldn't possibly be the Avengers. Their Black Widow always wears black."
"Yeah. And their Tony Stark is much better looking," Clint chimed in, trying not to break out in a smile.
Tony's smile became a little strained. "Right."
"You better go before you miss them," Natasha said encouragingly. "They said they would only be there for an hour or so."
"Okay!" the girl said enthusiastically. "You guys are great doubles," she smiled widely at us, then ran off to the park.
I let out a breath and turned back to the others. "Thank the gods," I said. I started back in the direction of the tower, and the others followed me after a moment.
"You're pretty quick, you know," Natasha noticed. "With coming up with something on the spot, I mean."
"I've had lots of practice," I told her as I scanned the area for anymore potential fans of the Avengers. I shook myself out of it after a moment when I realized that this wasn't a war. The fans weren't going to attack us. Probably. "I've been making stuff up like that since I was twelve."
"Still pretty impressive," Steve said, smiling.
"Well, thanks," I said.
After that we made it back to the tower without another incident. We fought over who would press the button again—Clint won this time because Natasha was too busy eyeing her ice cream. Once we made it to the kitchen, Bruce got out seven bowls, and I got the spoons. We went back to the table and handed them out to the others. Once we had our portions scooped into our bowls, Tony clanked his spoon against his bowl to get out attention before we could get a bite.
"I would like to make a toast," he said formally. He ruined the effect by grinning after a second. "To being normal teenagers that eat ice cream with their buddies!"
Clint eyed him critically, then grinned. "Well, I can't say I've ever done this, but yeah, to that!"
We all scooped out a bite of our ice cream and held it in the air at Tony's insistence. We clacked them together sloppily, getting ice cream everywhere. Natasha rolled her eyes, but she permitted herself a small smile anyway.
After that we pretty much ate ice cream until we were stuffed. I looked around at everyone curiously. Tony, Bruce, and Natasha's half-gallon tubs of ice cream were still about halfway full. Steve and Clint probably had about a third left of theirs, and Thor's was completely empty. I glanced at my container. I had about a third left, too.
Tony suddenly sat up straight from where he was slumping in his chair. "You know what I forgot?" he asked with his eyes wide.
"Tony if you say whipped cream, I will hurt you very badly," Natasha managed to growl drowsily. She sat up a little straighter in her seat so she wouldn't fall asleep.
Tony smacked his forehead and groaned. "We have a press conference tomorrow."
I heard a collective groan come from everyone. "Crap," Clint said. "How did we forget that?"
"I don't know. With Percy here, I just kind of forgot," Tony said. He actually looked a little depressed. "Maybe I have the wrong day. Tomorrow isn't Wednesday, right? Please tell me it isn't Wednesday."
"Today is Tuesday," I said. "So what usually comes after Tuesday?"
Tony groaned again. "You're really not helping with my denial of what tomorrow is, kid. You're really not."
"What's so bad about a press conference anyway?" I asked.
"They ask all kinds of annoying and stupid questions," Bruce replied.
Clint sighed resignedly. "It's really just a big waste of time."
"But it must be done." Tony frowned.
"So I'm just gonna hang out here at your tower and stuff?" I asked. Really, what else was there to do? Besides, I could do some exploring in the tower. That would probably take forever, anyway.
Tony nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Conference is at three and probably won't be done for an hour or two." He seemed to go back over what I said. "You can hang out in the tower, but please don't break it. I'm too lazy to fix it again." He wrinkled his nose. "You might get bored."
"I'll be fine," I assured him. I looked down to where our remaining ice cream was slowly melting. "Shouldn't we put this up?"
"Yeah," Steve said, hauling himself to his feet. After we were done, we went and sat down on the couch to watch some TV. Steve had some trouble working the remote at first, but he finally figured it out enough to where he could switch the channel to a baseball game. The Red Sox were playing the Atlanta Braves. Natasha rolled her eyes at the choice but didn't say anything.
Suddenly, I saw a mist connection come up. As the image got clearer, I saw Annabeth with her hair in a messy ponytail at her desk. She had numerous books and plans laid out on her desk in an almost orderly fashion. She finally looked up and smiled when she saw me. I was pretty sure my heart stuttered for a few seconds.
"Got some news for you, Seaweed Brain."
A/N: That's it, ladies and gents. And, okay, this chapter might have been out of character (it feels like I'm saying that every chapter now), but I just thought that my babies could use some cheering up. Things are definitely starting to speed up now, so we'll just have to see how the next chapter turns out. Leave me a review and tell what you think and/or what I could improve on. Thanks! Until Chapter Eleven!