To all my readers:
Firstly, I am SO, SO SORRY for not updating in a long time. I had no idea how to proceed with this fic. But now I do. Again, I am so, so indescribably SORRY! :(
This Chapter: The agents are dealt with but another threat emerges- or maybe it's the same one. Edward finds clues. Renesmee makes a decision. S.H.I.E.L.D is- temporarily- left floundering in the dark.
To sid.kush32: So sorry for the update, but thank you for the New Year's greetings (late as I am- again- sorry!).
To Trife: To be frank, no matter what viewpoint you take about Trump- could be good, could be bad- you can't deny her doesn't like outsiders and he considers them a threat if they are in US soil 'illegally'. What if it involves supernatural, super-powerful beings that originated from Greece and Rome? Yup. How about their half-human kids that are so powerful it's doubtful the entire US army could take them on? Would he consider them a threat? Of course! Would he want them out! By all mean!
I don't mean to offend you if you are a Trump fan, but that's the kind of stand he takes on 'illegal newcomers'. The Greek gods never came with Visas! Oops- overstaying illegals!
You don't need me to tell you that I don't own Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus. Or Twilight. Or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. They belong to their respective owners.
Chapter Eleven
The Unknown and Unknowing, Questions Unanswered and Growing Up
"They're getting ready for a fight." Aglaia breathed.
"Aglaia, get out of here," Annabeth hissed. "If they so much as get a whiff of you-"
"I know." Aglaia said calmly, but reluctantly. "Take this." She handed Annabeth something.
"What's that?" Percy asked, but Aglaia silently made her way back.
"It's nothing." Annabeth pocketed it. Percy rolled his eyes. "Aglaia's gone to Piper. She's looking to help them."
"Fine." Percy mumbled. He nodded slowly to one of the Hermes cabin and Drypetis.
A flare went up in the distance.
"What was that?" Maria Hill whirled around.
An explosion- but not the type to be frightened of.
"Nothing," someone muttered. "Just kids playing early Independence Day."
"Or Thanksgiving." Someone put in. Another person snorted.
"Fine." Maria Hill relaxed slightly. "Keep moving out," she ordered.
The agents did that and they held their guns ready, flashlights beaming from them so they could see what and where they were going to shoot.
Lou Ellen stood high on top of Zeus' Fist.
Then where the agents went, there was a rush of movement and sound.
Agents fired. But apparently they must have missed, because there was nothing there in the stillness of the night.
Maria's eyes narrowed. "Come on, we can do this all night," she promised.
Drypetis stood, looking at Lou Ellen. So did Mizuki. Eleana stood right next to her sister.
"Now." Lou Ellen said in Greek.
And Mizuki in her ninja gear, lunged forwards, leaping, arms outstretched, right off the rocks.
The Hermes Cabin fired ridiculous little explosives that were barely more than firecrackers, disorientating the agents. Maria Hill and several others cried out as it exploded in a cacophony of sounds and colours all around them.
"Sh**!" She swore and started firing. "Whoever you are-" but colourful smoke started rising through the air and nearly choked her.
It was gaseous.
"Stop." A calm, musical voice ordered.
"Who are you?!" Hill demanded.
"Edward Cullen," the male voice replied calmly.
Maria held out her gun. "Give yourselves up," she warned them. "And no one gets hurt. What happened to Phil Coulson and the rest of his team?"
"Mr. Coulson had his memory modified and so did the rest of them- they think they've won some trip to the Caribbean on a cruise." Edward replied.
Maria stared at the outline of the figure through the smoke. "What?!" The smoke stung her eyes but it would not stop her.
"He's perfectly alright," Edward assured her. "They all are. But we want to live in peace, and we can't risk you guys taking our freedoms away, especially since we haven't killed anybody?"
"Right, well, why don't we talk about this," Maria said steadily, trying to keep herself from choking. She coughed.
"Aren't we talking about this right now?" Edward asked politely.
"Besides, I'm sorry, but we can't let you keep tabs on us, imprison us or exterminate us. We've been fine on our own for centuries. I'm sorry, I know you guys mean well, but we can't. We want to live in peace."
Maria opened her mouth, about to answer, but she paused. Even though he sounded sincere, Edward Cullen was undoubtedly keeping secrets.
Edward Anthony Masen Junior had no relation to Carlisle Cullen by blood. Neither did Rosalie Lillian Hale and Jasper Whitlock, nor Mary Alice Brandon nor Emmett McCarthy. None of them had any relation to Esmé Anne Platt. But there they were- alive and undisputedly, seemingly immortal. The comparisons between Solimena paintings, portraits, grainy black-and-white photographs and coloured, good quality ones had been scanned countless times by a team of experts and state-of-the-art technology that no one could hack into or erase. And then there were the coincidences: there was a doctor named Carlisle at the hospital in Chicago where Edward Masen Junior and his parents had supposedly died. And another doctor of the same name with the same face at the hospital where Esmé Platt Evenson's body was wheeled into. There was a doctor named Carlisle who had a wife called Esmé and a brother-in-law named Edward at Rochester, New York when Rosalie Hale went missing in the 1930s. All these records had been saved, copied and filed digitally and in hard copy and could not be hacked, guarded highly not only by S.H.I.E.L.D and their various bases including the Triskelion but the Pentagon, White House and numerous other places now.
And soon Interpol would have to get involved. Especially as records show that the Cullens happened to go overseas quite a bit. There was no way the Cullens could get out of this legally and if they killed them, they still would be hunted.
Edward, reading her thoughts, tried to remain calm.
"Listen," he held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Who were those people?" Maria Hill demanded. "Who brought you here?"
"No one," Edward insisted. "We came on our own." Maria narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"Where is Phil Coulson?" She repeated.
"I told you," Edward said. "We erased his memory temporarily and sent him to a cruise on the Caribbean. He'll be back along with the rest of his team once the vacation is over, he regains his memories- or at least some of it. I can't let you risk my family."
Maria did not look impressed. "So you wiped his memory?" She asked. "Is that one of your supernatural abilities? Along with staying young forever?"
"Would you have killed us if we exposed ourselves earlier?" Edward asked. "All we want is to live in peace and to be left alone. We don't harm anyone."
"Then tell me this: how did you become immortal?" Maria demanded. "Rosalie Lillian Hale disappeared one night after when she was returning home from a friend's place. Her parents went frantic, her fiancé-"
"Was the one who tried to kill me," Rosalie said calmly, appearing out of nowhere. She had come to the same deductions as Edward- most of them did- though they did not possess his ability to read thoughts, it wasn't hard to guess. She did have the 'Mary Alice Brandon files'. "He and his drunk friends assaulted and injured me that night, leaving me for dead."
"So you are the same Rosalie Hale that disappeared in the 1930s." Rosalie inclined her head. "Carlisle saved me and turned me immortal." She stated.
"And I suppose he did it to everyone else here too?" Maria interrogated.
"Only to save us." Jasper swore. "I was dying in the Civil War." Though technically it wasn't Carlisle, he couldn't risk them finding out about other vampires. "Edward was dying of the Spanish Influenza. Rosalie was nearly dead and Emmett was mauled by a bear."
"I was dying too," Alice piped up, though it wasn't technically true. "And I fell right off the cliff after my son's death." Esmé put in. "And I was sick- with an incurable disease," Bella protested. She couldn't risk them finding out about Nessie. Carlisle held out his arms.
"But how did you turn them immortal?" Maria insisted.
Mizuki crept stealthily with Drypetis, Leo, Lou Ellen and some members of the Hypnos Cabin.
Carlisle took a deep breath. "I'll tell you," he began.
But just at that moment. The campers attacked again.
"Do it now!" Eleana shouted.
Clovis and Lou Ellen began to chant. The members of the Apollo Cabin started throwing sleep arrows at the agents along with gas and numerous other things. They wore protective masks to keep themselves safe.
The Hecate, Morpheus and Hypnos Cabins began working full on. Lou Ellen tossed sleeping and dreaming potions and bottles containing specially-concentrated Mist onto the agents, weaving a thick web of sleep, dreams and memory loss and alterations. "Hephaestus," Mizuki stated. "We have little time."
"Right-o." Leo nodded mock-seriously. "Right, listen up, guys. My cabin's gonna look into their pockets, things like passwords, codes, keys and everything. Any laser scanners, like thumb prints, eyes and stuff, will be taken care of by us- via them." He pointed to the now-heavily unconscious agents.
"And we have the Lethe Water." Nico held up a bottle, holding them with Celestial Bronze water-proof gauntlets. He appeared, also wearing a gas mask and protective gear, covering him from head to toe, like something out of a Sci-Fi or Zombie Apocalypse movie.
"You're going to pour it down their throats?" Bella demanded. She remembered the myths about the River Lethe. "You can't just erase their memories!" "Then just what were you going to do?" Nico demanded back. "Kill them?" The vampires were a safe distance away as Lou Ellen warned them that this could also affect them.
Edward admittedly realised that this was what they had been planning to do. If they had had no choice, then they would have to have killed them to protect their family and the rest of their kind. He looked down.
Nico took a deep breath through his mask. "I hate this thing," he grumbled. "Let's get this over with."
He uncorked the bottle. Opening the mouth of one agent, he knelt down and poured the murky water into test tubes, a carefully calculated amount. He wasn't going to erase their entire memories, nor did he wish to waste the water. He distributed them among them campers who themselves were very careful.
Nico opened the mouth of one agent. Pouring the contents of the test tube in the agent's mouth, he thumped the guy's chest and the dude began to splutter and cough in his sleep. But he had downed the water. Nico breathed out a sigh of relief. "Right, be careful- don't waste a single drop. Don't get them on your skin. I know it's hard, but please, be careful." He warned.
The campers did just that. In no time at all the agents' recent memories were erased while they were unconscious.
"Leo," Nico stood and gestured. "All yours."
"Sir, yes sir!" Leo mock-saluted. He and Drypetis unfolded their automatic stretchers and gurneys like the ones they used on Jacob. They prepared to carry them to the vans. The Hecate, Morpheus and Hypnos Cabins along with the Apollos followed them, careful to intercept anyone else.
"Looks like you're protecting yourselves from nuclear radiation," Rosalie mumbled as she and the others were safely escorted down.
"You can't return to Forks," Nico stated. "But- why?" Bella demanded. "It's our home, we've got friends, family-"
"Which is why you can't return." He clarified. "Not unless you want to put them at risk as well. Not for months at least, or over a year and a half- or maybe two, if you want to play it safe. The Hecate and Hermes Cabins will be able to get your stuff- no, they won't steal them, I promise, but your things will be safely delivered. You can't go back to Forks."
"Yeah, but what about our work?" Bella asked, though with less indignation. "Carlisle's place in the hospital? Nessie's school? My dad-"
"We'll have to cast a spell," Lou Ellen spoke up, her voice muffled by the mask. "I'm sorry. As the Mist is going down, we can't take any risks, so we're going to enchant them and make them think that you guys have moved away. And if someone like S.H.I.E.L.D, Interpol, CIA or the FBI come knocking to any of them, they wouldn't be able to remember anything. We'll also put wards on the whole town so once agents like those come in, knocking on 'official business' they'll forget why they were even there in the first place." She shrugged when they looked at her, impressed. "It's something I learned from a group of magic users. My mom told me about them."
"Then we'd better get going," Nico gestured. "Come on. I'm sure that you guys will be able to find places overseas."
Still hesitant, still reluctant and worried, but seeing their point, the Cullens moved forwards. "What about Jacob?" Bella asked. "Can he still return home?"
"They haven't seen him, so yes, once the wards have been put up, he could," Lou Ellen replied.
Nearby, Aglaia watched, her face impassive behind that ever-present mask of hers.
"Those agents on the Caribbean cruise," she began. "The hypnosis will be temporary." She turned and looked at several demigods, all masked and geared up in stealth combat weapons and armour. "They need to have their memories temporarily erased." She handed them vials of carefully-measured Lethe water, sealed and secure behind protected, moisture-proof, reinforced glass. "One for each. There were six, as I recall."
They nodded and took them.
"I've spoken to the Nereids and made a sacrifice to my father," Aglaia spoke again. "They're giving you hippocampi and help to get to the cruise as stealthily and quickly as possible."
"No distractions." Annabeth warned.
"No distractions," Travis Stoll's voice was muffled behind his ski-mask.
"This is a matter of life and death." She reminded them.
"Got it," that was Connor Stoll. "Your rides are waiting for you at the beach," Aglaia gestured. They all left.
"The threat isn't going to end with this." Annabeth said darkly.
Piper agreed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. You really think it's them?" She asked suspiciously.
"Possibly," Aglaia shrugged. "We can't be sure… Yet."
In the Caribbean…
The Stolls and their companions silently boarded the cruise ship. Travis knelt and produced a tracking device that Leo and Drypetis had come up with and given to them for the mission. They had samples of the Agents' DNA. So they were going to find them.
Connor held the screen, similar to an iPad and Travis released several metal spheres, rolling on the ground.
They popped open and sprouted legs, running forwards and creeping into various rooms. In no time at all, dotted marks and lines showed on the screen along with a map of the whole ship. The ship's surveillance system would shut down temporarily wherever they were. They had to hurry.
Phil Coulson was sleeping peacefully. Grant Ward was snoring away. Skylar, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons were sleeping and dozing peacefully too. Even Melinda May slumbered without any disturbance.
It was night. The Stolls and their companions stole into their cabins. In perfume bottles they each sprayed the agents gently, before stealing away, making their way back to their hippocampi.
Leo, Drypetis and their siblings Jake Mason and Nyssa hacked away into S.H.I.E.L.D's electronic data base using scanners, codes, passwords and so forth which they'd gleaned. It was seriously difficult to hack into the ones that used passwords when it came to S.H.I.E.L.D. One wrong move and they could be detected. But they had to hurry and they had to do their jobs well. They were still covered up in case of any hidden cams. S.H.I.E.L.D's gadgets rivalled anything they had.
Fury tapped his fingers impatiently. "Still no word," he muttered to himself. He stood, and began pacing, first nervously then with more heat.
Phil Coulson and his team had not made contact with any of them. Neither did Maria Hill. Where did they go?
Fury frowned. He strode to his computer but then someone knocked on the door. "Come in." He called out.
It was Lance Hunter. Fury straightened. "Have you immobilised the Strike Team yet?"
"No need, sir." Hunter replied. Fury frowned again. "Then have you found-" he trailed off.
Lance nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Where are they?"
"Agent Maria Hill and those she took with them have had… Well, they can't remember anything, including where exactly they were, except they were in New York?"
"New York?" Fury said incredulously. "I thought they went up north to Washington? To track down those other agents."
"They did. And they can remember that. Where exactly they were and what they were doing there, what they've found and stuff like that… They… They can't remember. It's like they've had a minor case of amnesia." Fury jumped up.
"And we've tracked down Phil Coulson and his team too," Lance remarked. "They also can't remember anything. They think they've all been handed vacation packages by you guys. They have no memory of where they went, what they found and what they were doing."
Fury sank back down on his chair, overwhelmed. "Amnesia?" He asked, almost weakly.
"It would appear so, but the agents have been examined. There's no sign of physical trauma, bio-chemicals or anything of the sort that could possibly induce the smallest amount of memory loss or anything else." Lance continued.
"Then how-" Fury began, aghast, but he shook his head. "Do you know what they were doing?" He demanded. "What they've found. Did they contact you?" He demanded.
Lance shook his head. "No, sir."
Fury did not know what to do. "Dismissed." He stated. It looked like they had to start from scratch again. He stood, deciding to speak to the agents, trying to glean as much from as little as could be given. Of course, he got nothing. Except for Forks, Washington. But apart from putting the whole town under surveillance, along with the whole of New York- and which part of New York, did they even go to? There was nothing he or anyone else could do.
They had to find the threat. And eliminate it- fast.
Renesmee sighed.
"So we can't go back to Forks," she admitted.
"No," Rosalie agreed. "It's too dangerous."
"Sweetie," Esmé sighed. "Jacob can go back. But I'm afraid they knew you were living with us."
"So I'll have to go too." Nessie stated, bluntly.
"That's…" Esmé looked at Nessie. "Well, actually, that's up to you."
Her head shot up, startled at what her grandmother just said.
"Carlisle's speaking to your parents at the moment," Rose said softly.
"You know that teenagers in Britain take a 'gap year' between High School and University?" Rosalie said, a tiny smile twisting about her lips. "They learn some independence. The responsibility and the freedom. Maybe it's not such a bad idea."
Renesmee snorted delicately. "Somehow, I can't imagine my parents and Jacob ever agreeing to this. In fact, how do I know Jake's really going back home?"
"Because they've persuaded him too, and it's been made clear that following you around and haunting your every footstep, being glued to you like your shadow, isn't going to help his case. You need your space. And your freedom. Your decisions made and your life lived before you settle back home in Forks." Esmé said.
Renesmee looked at her. "And my parents are okay with it?"
"They'll have to be." Rosalie stated. "In everyone's mind, their baby stays the same forever, but you're also growing up and if your parents know what's best for you, they'll let you." Her head turned towards where Edward and Bella were talking animatedly at a safe distance. Vampires could see that far, but even they could not hear that far, so that conversation was safe.
"You haven't been to Europe, though, have you?" Rosalie asked gently. "Why don't you come along for a bit? And then… Well, it's up to you."
Renesmee looked astonished.
"You mean it?" She asked after a while. "You really mean it?"
"Providing you keep in constant contact, I see no reason why not," Esmé said gently.
Renesmee looked hopefully at her grandmother and aunt. Jasper was with her parents trying to appease them, but she had a feeling they heard exactly what they had said. Or at least, Edward heard their thoughts.
"I'm not bailing out on you," she managed. "I just… I need… Some space. Some time… To think."
"We know," Esmé said gently. "We understand. I think you're allowed now. Your horizons should expand, you shouldn't be confined, not anymore."
"That doesn't mean," Rosalie interjected. "That you should take any risks. You should still be very careful. Especially as we're going to a continent where the Volturi are."
"Oh, I will." Nessie said brightly. "It's just…" She swallowed. "I didn't mean to say all those awful things," she admitted.
"They know," Rosalie said quietly. "And they understand."
Nessie took a deep breath. "Are you sure about this?"
Her aunt shrugged. "Why not?"
"So he… Has no memory whatsoever?" Aglaia asked.
Mizuki shook her head. "None." Aglaia and Piper looked at one another.
"And it was in his blood?" She asked, hesitantly.
"But it disappeared, as if on self-destruct." Mizuki put in.
There was silence for a moment. "Only S.H.I.E.L.D has that kind of technology. Them and their enemies." Aglaia said.
"But even so, it would be difficult to replicate by someone hiding out, like HYDRA. It looks like this… Serum wasn't perfect. Like they kept injecting it, to perfect everything." Annabeth stated.
"Which was why they kidnapped Renesmee," Piper put in. "Because she's a hybrid. Half-vampire, half-human. They took some of her cell samples."
"They're experimenting," Annabeth breathed. "Perfecting their serum."
"For what?" Aglaia asked sharply. "For something like Captain America? The super-soldier? Why test that on shapeshifters of legend? He was an ordinary human before they injected him."
"Maybe because they want more," Annabeth suggested softly. "They want to start with something more…" "So once they've got the finished serum-" Piper put in.
"They'll end up with something more," Aglaia breathed. "This is not good. We have to contact Reyna and New Rome. Warn the Romans. Alert the city and the camp."
"Agreed," Annabeth said grimly. "But we still don't know for sure it's them," Piper warned.
"No," Aglaia agreed. She looked back at Mizuki. "It's too risky to investigate further… Until things go quiet. But Leo and Drypetis already have an advantage. A way into S.H.I.E.L.D."
"And right into the heart of the Triskelion," Annabeth murmured.
"From now on, we don't know who our enemies are. We must be extra careful."
No, this is not the end. There's at least one more chapter to go.
But remember this is a prequel for the Second Trojan War series. And the first of this series of Twilight Crossover fics.