Hey Guys.
So... Where to begin... I guess the beginning will be a good place to start.
So, the computer in my house went off the fritz, I guess you could say, and decided to stop working. My parents waited a week before bringing in the computer to be fixed, and then the Wifi at my house decided to freak out... Ugh. I couldn't write from my phone, either, which was horrible. Let it be known that I didn't abandon you guys, I just couldn't so much as write without something going wrong!
I would've written at school, but it's summer now. I'm Graduated! YES! I don't know if you can expect quicker updates, but I'll try my hardest to get these out sooner. Remember that one time I said that I was going to finish this before Civil War? Feels like a joke now, huh?
Still need to see Civil War, too...
I took a lot of time thinking about where I want this story to go, and I'm happy to say that I have some major bombshells for you guys! Hope you didn't need your emotions!
I recently got into this dark series called I Am Not A Serial Killer, and I know I've said it before but its awesome. Like, I recommend this highly for anyone's Summer Reading List. I'm addicted, and own all of them now, and I'm going to meet the author on the 11th when he comes to one of the bookstores by my house... I might slap him, to be honest. Or maybe I'll beg for an early release of his newest one. I don't know, really.
Also, I'm trying to keep up with friends. Some of them are already getting married! (These graduated years ago, tho, FYI.) Now, I plan on focusing on writing for a while.
I really am sorry for the wait. Things just... got out of hand, I guess. Graduation, marriages, evil authors... I want to thank everyone who Reviewed, tho. You're the reason it's up today instead of tomorrow! Pat yourselves on the back! and remeber: the goal is 1k reviews! Keep it up! We are So Close.
And, if you want, I started another story a few weeks ago called Complications. Please, go check it out. I'd like some support on that story as well as this one.
Disclaimer: I am not Rick or Marvel.
Clint:
(Two Days Earlier:)
Everything was a mess.
Avengers Tower was in a state of silence. No one spoke at dinner that night, no one stayed after to watch movies, or play video games, or even read (where was Bruce when you needed him?). Everyone had picked at their five star meals and sulked. Besides Thor. He ate like a (well mannered) pig.
Clint had seen Wanda fidgeting from across the room, picking at the tablecloth, or at the knives on her plate. They had a specific rule about no powers at the table (Thor, Vision, & Wanda), but Clint saw her irises change red when she nearly dropped her fork.
James had come out. It wasn't often that they got him to the dining table, but he'd been strong enough to walk there on his own. Clint had been worrying about their War Machine, but he looked on the mend. Clint hoped for a full recovery.
Steve and Tony were both tense, as if expecting to get scolded again. Clint had heard Percy from the air ducts when they'd confronted him later. It had been less than pretty.
Natasha and himself had always made a rule to sit with Percy between them. They all had unofficial rules about where they say when they ate: Tony and Steve were not allowed seats at the front. No powers. No weapons. Unless you wanted Natasha killing you slowly, in a way that will terrify you, no pranks. And above all: if you could make it, you sat with them. They would be a family in that sense.
Percy's seat was empty.
And man, it hadn't been this quiet at dinner in months, since his disappearance. Clint hated it. He hated it when Percy disappeared like this. It left the whole team restless, and no one had enough courage to confront him. Not because Percy was scary when he was angry (that was Nat), but because Percy's vote held weight. When Percy said something, or did something wrong, he owned up. They'd give him a cool down and he'd reappear later, happy as can be.
But dinner- this was a step in a dangerous direction. Annabeth's escape had been a shock for the team, and Percy had taken it personally- like they'd failed a challenge of some sort. Everyone felt justified, being on edge. They figured, by the end of the night, Percy would come out
He never did.
…
"Percy, open up." Clint said, knocking again on the door. He'd been at it for five minutes now, though that wasn't anything new. Percy could take twenty minutes alone to get the door.
But he hadn't had breakfast this morning, as far as Clint knew. He'd checked the kitchen last night and found Percy's dinner had been taken up to his room, but his breakfast had remained untouched.
Percy never missed bacon day. Even if every day was bacon day.
"I have bacon, Percy! If this door isn't open in thirty seconds, it's mine." No answer. Clint's brow scrunched together in worrying thought as he ate all of Percy's bacon (bacon is never a hollow threat). Clint decided to try one more time.
"I'll grab Natasha!" No other explanation needed. She'd ruin Percy's morning significantly so.
When there wasn't even a ruffling of blankets on the over side of the door, Clint knew the room must be empty. Natasha's name would've gotten the door open.
Clint tested the lock, but found the door open. He stepped in.
The blankets were ruffled, and the sheets pushed back. Pictures that Annabeth had been inspecting were hanging on the wall, undisturbed. Nothing out of the ordinary, so to speak. Just like any other morning in anyone else's room.
What really caught Clint's attention was the dinner plate sitting at Percy's desk. Picked clean, as usual. When Clint picked it up, though, an Avenger's symbol caught his eye. It sat on a flash drive, right under the plate. Obviously meant to be found. Beside it was a sticky note, written in his better-than-it-once-was chicken scratch.
'Avengers, assemble in the living room.'
…
"Tony, you need to scoot further-"
"Make Thor move, Steve! I'm already falling off!"
"I can't move Thor, he's-!"
Clint rolled his eyes, hearing the team muttering to one another like a pack of animals. They had all been spread out across the building when Clint had called them together, and Steve had almost left, hoping to make a lap or two around Central Park. Steve always ran when something was bothering him (Clint ran when a situation bothered him, too).
Natasha sat just a few feet away, and her expression mirrored Clint's. Seriously, why was it the team only behaved like a team when their lives were in danger? Or when Percy was around. Clint would swear up and down, that kid had them all wrapped around his fingers.
But hey, Clint wasn't any better. Percy was a literal Barton, and Clint would treat him like he would any of his kids: walk out into the firing squad if he had to.
"Shut up." Natasha said, her tone conversational. The tone didn't seem to matter when it came to Natasha- you listened to what she said. Steve and Tony both shut their mouths while Thor grinned smugly from his much larger couch portion.
Clint held up the flash drive. Every set of eyes followed it like a moth to a lit match. "Percy left sometime last night. He left this behind. If we can all shut our mouths for ten minutes, maybe we can figure out what he's doing." He said it like he was speaking to toddlers, and Wanda rolled her eyes. Clint noticed her leg twitching had disappeared, but was now replaced with finger tapping.
Clint plugged the drive into the TV. Tony didn't even have to ask for the lights to be dimmed.
The Avengers symbol flashed across the screen, and Clint felt like he might actually be watching a movie. The idea made him shiver, thinking of people seeing all the deaths he'd caused.
On the flip side, watching all of his best pranks play out on TV made him smirk.
It was… Percy's room. Just the camera pointing at an unoccupied corner of the room. They could see a few photographs on the walls, though they couldn't tell what of. The only light on was the bedside lamp, and it wasn't even enough to be considered 'good' lighting. Clint mentally compared it to some hostage videos he'd seen, and found Percy's camera skill lacking.
"Okay, here we go- dang it." The team could hear, as well as see, Percy struggle with the camera beside him. He had accidentally tipped it on its side, and the team had a clear view of Percy's disgruntled facial expression. Clint smiled a little. They had a near perfect replica of this moment, but with Hope instead of Percy.
"Alright…" Percy said to himself, adjusting the camera again until the view of him sitting at his desk was clearly visible. The lighting was still horrible, though. Shadows danced across Percy's face, leaving his expressions both physically and figuratively dark. He clapped his hands, looking directly into the camera. Clint saw him pick up a fork. "Alright!" He repeated. "Okay, so if you found this, Clint, then congrats. Your eyesight hasn't failed you yet."
That little crap.
"But seriously, this is both your punishment and a mission briefing, so, like, TWO punishments instead of one. If you can't tell, I'm also eating dinner while recording this, so Thor has to go through that-" Clint could already hear the demigod groan. Thor hated when Percy spoke and ate at the same time.
Percy took a big bite from the mashed potatoes in front of him, humming appreciatively. Thor muttered something. "Oh, this is good- but seriously guys, I don't mean to sound whiny, but ever since I came out about being a demigod- oh, ambrosia -I just feel… Different. Like, a rift started to grow between me and you, you know? And if it's anyone's fault, it's mine."
"Not true." Tony and Steve both said at the same time. Clint heard someone- Wanda, probably -snicker.
Percy looked directly at the camera. "Yes, it IS. And, I mean, we had some bumps, didn't we? Steve and Tony started getting a bit distant, and then Fury trying to gather information- wow, compliments to the chef -and Wanda… That experience just opened some deep, deep wounds. And then Annabeth showing up again…"
The Percy on the TV was suddenly very quiet. His fork idly messed with the Chuck Roast on his plate, tearing up the meat. He didn't look at the camera when he spoke again. "I need to do this. If I wanted anything else, I would've done the selfish thing and forgotten about them. But their my FAMILY. I still care about them, and I still miss them. When Annabeth spoke with me, she got me thinking. She always does."
Percy paused, taking another bite out of his potatoes. "I told you all about my earliest experiences as a demigod already, but I think I need to recap: I need to go on a quest."
Clint felt his heart stop. He felt his ears prick to full attention and suddenly the crappy home movie in front of his was a 3-D, HD image. Each word burned into his subconscious.
"It'll be dangerous. More dangerous than anything else I've ever done. I might be gone longer than I was before."
Clint heard the underlying meaning. His absence. Percy wasn't even touching his food.
"I have to go back into what I was before- nothing but my sword and willpower to keep moving. I- I don't even have a prophesy yet, and that's always the worst part. I know where to start, though. In fact, I'll need your help."
The Percy on the screen was pale in the glow of his lamp. The darkened side of his face was an exact opposite contrast. He forced another bite of food,
"I've sent you all an objective. One single, solitary thing I need you all to do. If you don't want to, reply 'no' and I'll completely understand. And- hey -maybe I'll die! After all, it's not just monsters I need to look out for now. Hydra, the gods, other demigods- the odds are stacked against me this time around." Suddenly he let out a deep, thundering laugh. "Then again, maybe nothing has changed! The odds were always against me."
Clint shivered at his serious tone. It was the kind of voice that Percy only used when he understood that the world was as cruel as it was kind. It was the voice that sounded distorted and garbled. It was the voice Percy had first used when Clint had met him. That scared teenager with his baby sister.
"I'm going to try and talk to them. Piper, Jason, Nico- all of them. Maybe they can help… Or maybe things get worse. I don't know. But that… That's the beginning. There's something coming, guys. Something I knew would come, no matter how often I ignored it. Demigods, Avengers… We'll fight as one group. We'll have to."
Clint and the others watched at Percy began to eat again, seemingly disconnected from his own words. He always ate like a starving man, but he nearly licked his plate clean. He brandished the plate after he was done. "See? I had a full meal before I left. Already one step ahead of most of my other quests."
Clint wished he could laugh with the banter. He wished someone would break the silence, and would help get the knot out from inside his throat.
"I love you guys. Really, I do. I'll try my best to be safe, and when the time is right I'll call you. But until then… Stay sharp?" It ended more like a question, but Percy's arm stretched forward and the recording stopped.
Jason:
"Piper?"
Gods, Jason was an idiot. He should've trusted his gut when the earpiece had begun to call him. On his way to the Big House after finding it on the table they had supplied with water, he'd gotten a call from… Someone. Some old guy. Whoever it was had been clear: follow instructions carefully or she dies.
He'd reached the van, he'd entered the back seat, and he'd been left in the dark. When the van had begun moving after what felt like hours, Jason had been tense and worried and scared and and and-
He had mixed feelings when all the doors had unlocked and he'd been let out into the light. Especially when he saw who was sitting in the front.
The woman in question- his wife -had been asleep in the passenger seat of the passenger van. When they had reached their destination. Judging by the way she was blinking rapidly, she'd been left in the dark as well.
"Jason?"
Gods, Jason felt like an idiot.
He wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her out of the van as if it were a hellhound's maw. He felt her swollen stomach push against his own abdomen and automatically loosened his hold on her (he was extremely concerned about that baby).
"Oh gods! Oh gods, you're here too." Jason said, both beyond terrified and a small part relieved. She was safe. She might've been safer at camp, but he would keep her safe as well. He could protect her from the old man over the phone.
It terrified him further that whoever had gotten the two of them out of camp had a way into camp. Camp was safe. Camp was the only safe place (besides Camp Jupiter).
But with her beside him, at least he knew his family was safe.
"Oh, ow. That is bright."
Jason turned to see someone exiting the van from the door opposite of the one he had exited. Among all the other noise around them, common for the city. Traffic, pedestrians, buses… It all melted together until he saw who stood with a hand supporting himself on the doorframe.
Curly brown hair pushed under a rasta cap. A bright orange t-shirt that matched Jason and Piper's. A counselor. One that Jason knew very little about. "Grover? Is that you?"
The satyr in question didn't look so good. In fact, his pale skin and unstable stance were a big tip off that he wasn't okay. He moved around the car slowly, his right hand gripping the metal frame of their van like a lifeline. When he reached the couple, his legs appeared as if they were about to shake right out his fake feet.
Jason was about to ask what was wrong when Grover threw himself for the nearest (conveniently) placed trash can.
Jason was very careful to not let Piper hear or see the satyr as he emptied his stomach, because then Piper might do the same. Baby had a nasty habit of hurting his wife. He'd give his kid a firm talking to when they'd left the womb.
When Grover had finished emptying his stomach, he slowly walked over to the two of them. He hadn't even uttered a word before the final passenger had exited the van.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare was not happy. She looked pissed. Her red hair seemed to glow like fire as she left the blackened van, locking eyes with Jason. "Okay, what's going on?"
No sooner had she said that did the van suddenly start to drive away, leaving them on the street corner.
No, not a street… Jason looked behind him for the first time, seeing the large, overbearing mass of concrete. He heard the whine of something much larger than a car. He saw the sleek outline of a jet taking off.
"Your plane leaves in an hour. Your bags are already inside. Jason has the tickets in his pocket. I guess I'll see you guys soon."
Jason didn't need to understand how his earpiece was still in his ear. Jason didn't have to feel the papers to know he had tickets. And he didn't need to see everyone else's faces to know that wasn't the old man from before. In fact, that voice was seared into their minds.
"Percy?" Grover asked, voice both hesitant and wobbly.
There was a click, and the line went dead.
Yep. It's short... Sorry about that.
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LHG :)