Marvel's Percy Jackson: The Avengers Initiative

Chapter 16

Washington D.C.

ONE WEEK LATER

Percy smiled as he rubbed his dog by the scruff of his neck, making Dash wag his tongue in excitement as Percy kneeled in the living room of his recently purchased apartment. In terms of how it looked, the place was pretty decent. He guessed he would just have to get used to living in a different city. New York was so urban, and prior to moving here, it was all he'd ever known. Washington was a little more open, especially near the monuments and museums and all that stuff. New York on the other hand was so closed in they had cut a part of the island to make a giant park. At least with Central Park, people would be able to still somewhat enjoy nature.

Granted, it wasn't his first time in Washington. He still remembered the first time he'd been in the capital of the United States, four years ago. It wasn't all that long, yet for some reason, it felt like it was another lifetime to Percy. Sneaking out on a quest to go save who he thought he'd be with forever.

Curse Aphrodite and her stupid mind games.

The fact that it had been her who had disguised herself as "Kathy" in Pensacola was something that Percy had long gotten over with. What was done was done and there wasn't anything he could do about it. Gods would forever meddle with his life because they can.

Percy said a quick goodbye to his pet before leaving the house and hopping in his car for a drive into the city. There was this Italian restaurant that he loved to eat at that he had his mind set for. Finding parking was the only difficult thing about it, though. Then again, that was the case in every big city. Once he found himself a spot some walking distance away from Giovanni's Pasta, he climbed out and locked his car.

A little walking distance never hurt anyone. He strolled to the restaurant before helping himself to one of the tables outside and taking a seat. He grabbed the menu that was plopped on the table and scrolled through it, knowing that he was going to get what he always ordered. It would take a minute before a waitress came to take his order.

"Hello, may I take your order?" she asked in a cheerful tone.

Percy smiled at the girl. "I'll have a ... linguini, with meatball and marinara."

"Anything to drink?"

"Give me a ... limonata," Percy replied, his Italian coming off surprisingly non-accentual.

The girl raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Coming right up. Don't go anywhere, handsome."

This is how Percy knew he was his father's son. The most prominent feature that he had inherited from the god of the sea was his good looks and sometimes, he admits, it gave him a big head. Now that he was single, he had a knack of trying to impress the ladies. And it would usually work. Percy studied the waitress from afar, taking note of her looks and coming to the conclusion that she was pretty. She features were very Italian: olive skin, brown hair tied in a bun and blue eyes. She definitely had to be new, considering hadn't seen her working here before and she looked about Percy's age.

With women, Percy knew it was all about how he approached them. He tried different things to see if they were interested. If they were, it was good for him and if they weren't, he'd leave them alone. That's why Percy wouldn't recommend asking the gods on how to approach women because to put it as nicely as possible ... well, they weren't exactly covert. He knew the stories about them. Hands down, they were creeps. That was as nicely as he could put it. He could call them something much worse, but the gods were sensitive, and they would strike him down where he sat. And that's not something he wants.

For most of the time, Poseidon wasn't a creep. Most of the time. As far as he knew, he'd been very respectful to his mom when he'd met her. And because he had his father's looks, maybe he had an advantage. It was the dark windswept hair, the compelling ocean-green eyes, the light tan, and the fact that his training from all the years at camp kept him in good shape. The fact that he was a tall man didn't hurt, either. He knew from women telling him themselves, the ladies loved tall men. And the fact that he was over 6-foot-1 now, having measured again recently, it helped him as well.

The waitress was walking over to his table again, lemonade in one hand and his linguini in her other hand before she bent over to place the items on his table. He didn't miss the fact that a few of buttons were undone.

People seemed to love to call Percy oblivious. Silena would call him for that for not noticing Annabeth making moves on him. Annabeth would call him that because he wouldn't notice other girls making moves on him while they dated. The truth was, he did notice. He would just choose to ignore it.

It was a little complicated, but it wasn't too hard to figure out. When Annabeth kissed him under Mt. St. Helens, of course he noticed. But that summer, Aphrodite had put him in this ... love-shape of some kind that involved three girls: Annabeth, Rachel and Calypso. His mind had been so jumbled that he didn't really know where he was going. He gets kissed by Annabeth, proceeds to land on Calypso's and then proceeds to let Rachel join him on their quest through the labyrinth.

The next summer, he had Kronos practically on his mind 100% of the time. He was constantly worried about the war. He was worried that he might die because of the prophecy. Girlfriends were far away from his mind. When the war is done, and he realized he wasn't the one that was going to die, well, that freed up some space and he worked up the nerve to ask out Annabeth.

So that clarified his point. Where did people come off thinking he was oblivious? Nah, he just simply ignored other girls because he had been taken at the time. But he wasn't now, was he?

The waitress smiled suggestively at Percy as she bent over the table, the undone buttons displaying cleavage as placed Percy's order on the table. She then straightened her back and sashayed back inside the restaurant, but not before looking back at Percy one more time.

Percy bit his lips as he watched the waitress's obvious flirting. Suddenly, something else was looking much tastier than the linguini in front of him.

Once he finished up his plate, the waitress brought over his receipt holder, and was what written on the receipt pretty sealed the deal. She had written her phone number with a little "Call me ;)" next to it.

Percy made sure to give her a big tip. And yeah, maybe he'd think about calling her sometime. Maybe.

Just as Percy stood up to leave a familiar voice spoke right behind him.

"Percy?"

Percy froze in his place. He stood frozen in his spot for a solid 30 seconds before he finally worked the courage to slowly look at who spoke behind him. He stared at the familiar blonde in shock, never having expected to see her again, especially not so soon. Because in front of him, at this very moment ... stood his ex-girlfriend.

Annabeth Chase.

Both Percy and Annabeth stood still for what felt like a long time, staring at each other, the former in shock while Annabeth looked at him with veneration and ... penitence? Percy's expression shifted to discontent as he frowned at his ex and finally found his voice.

"Annabeth."

Annabeth looked down at the ground once before looking back up timidly. "Um ... h-how you've been?"

Percy's expression remained the same. "Just fine ... why?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Just ... wanted to know."

"Well, now you know."

There another moment of silence. "You're uh ... not gonna say anything?"

"What is there to say?" Percy questioned. "I think you said plenty the last time we saw each other."

"I just wanted to ... greet you. Say hi to a friend or something!"

Percy chuckled bitterly. "Annabeth, we are not friends."

"Well ... we could be," Annabeth retaliated.

Percy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why are you here? What are you doing here?"

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Um ... I'm on a field trip. My architecture class is staying in a hotel nearby. We came to ... look at the monuments here."

"Good for you, I guess," Percy replied, uninterested. "And you just so happen to run into me?"

"Percy ..." she began, reaching forward.

Percy flinched, pulling his arm away before he sighed. "I moved on. Ok? This thing between you and me, it didn't work out. It happens, and I've moved on from it. Life is not a fairytale, especially not for people like us. We were young, we were naive and we were in love. It didn't work out and now it's time to move on." Percy waited for an answer but got only a grimace from Annabeth. "You always thought too much. But for once in your life, Annabeth, don't. This does not require thinking. This requires knowing. Our relationship might've been nice half of the time but it was also toxic and you know why. There is no version of this where get back together and live happily ever after. I have duties now. I have a job, I have a sick mother to take care of. The last thing I need is someone with a pride as big as yours in my life."

Annabeth looked remorseful but she didn't say anything, making Percy exhale exasperatedly. "Whatever. You have a good day."

Percy pushed past her and started to walk back to his car before Annabeth called out behind him. "I know you where there!"

Percy froze and looked back at her. "What?"

Annabeth approached him cautiously. "You were there in New York ... with the Avengers, fighting off the invasion."

Percy looked around the area, feeling some relief that no one was paying them any attention before Percy grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alleyway. "Just shout it to the world, why don't ya? Not like I have my name plastered all over the news or anything."

Annabeth looked down. "Sorry. Just ... wanted to congratulate you. You were doing a good thing, saving the world. You're ... you were always such a good person."

"Yeah, everyone and their mom have been telling me that," Percy replied. "What's up with that?"

"It's because you are," Annabeth said, her voice coming off more confidently now. "You are the greatest person, Percy. It doesn't take a genius to realize that. And whatever flaws you might think you have, it doesn't take it away. I want you to know that. You are a good person, not like me." Annabeth sighed before her voice lowered. "I was always told hubris would be my downfall ... just didn't think it'd be the reason we break up. I'm a terrible person for that, for putting my pride over you. Unlike you, you really are good person, a hero. You stepped up and saved New York ... again. You have ... the best heart I've ever known and I ... I am so sorry that I broke it."

Percy simply listened as Annabeth poured out her thoughts to him.

"That ... is why I'm here. I wanted to apologize. And I'm not all trying to get back with you or anything like that. I just wanted ... to apologize. I always think I'm right. That ... creates a toxic environment and it's ... something that I've been working on to get rid of, by myself. To apologize, it's literally something I have to muster up the courage to do, because my hubris tells me otherwise." Annabeth made direct eye contact. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I put my pride over you. I'm sorry I'm the reason we ended so badly. And I don't you want to get back with me, all I want is you to just forgive me. Can you find it, in your pure heart, to forgive me, Percy Jackson?"

Percy sighed and looked away. Gosh, he really wanted to say no. His mind was telling him to tell Annabeth to go kick rocks.

But his heart was telling him differently. And that was the thing about Percy, he more than often found himself thinking with his heart, because his heart was deprived of hate. And when Annabeth broke it, he had stopped thinking with his heart and thought instead with his mind. He became bitter towards her. He started becoming a mercenary and decisions ... were irrationally thought out. If his heart was deprived of hate, his mind was deprived of intellect. But his heart slowly mended when he put others over himself and he fought alongside the Avengers, for the better of the world.

The last thing his heart wanted was to break again.

As for Annabeth herself, Percy could feel she was being genuine. She truly was sorry for putting her pride over everything else, including her boyfriend. The way Percy saw it, Annabeth wanted closure. She didn't want the two to be forever bitter towards one another, because if they have to move on from each other, at least they should do it without holding any hate within themselves. Annabeth was only human, and humans made mistakes. No matter whether there was a quondam romance between them, she was still worthy of being forgiven.

Percy spent a solid two minutes staring at the cars that passed by, contemplating his decision on how to respond. He exhaled and looked down before he made a clicking noise and looked back up at Annabeth.

"I ..." Percy gritted his teeth before working up the courage to finish the sentence. "I forgive you."

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are only human. You do make mistakes like the rest of us. Make sure to remember that. You are wrong sometimes. It's not a big deal and it shouldn't that hard to accept that you're wrong. Just ... don't think we're friends or anything like that."

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah."

Percy sighed and looked down as his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He swiftly pulled it out and looked down at the screen, seeing the notification of a text message coming from Director Fury: "MISSION ALERT. NEED YOU TO COME IN."

"Well," Percy said, holding up the phone for Annabeth to see. "Duty calls."

Annabeth nodded in reply before Percy smiled at her in what felt like the first time in forever and started to make his way back to his car. Before Percy could leave, Annabeth called out to him.

"Percy!"

Percy turned back to look at her.

"For what it's worth ... it was good to see you," Annabeth said.

Percy gave her a curt nod in reply before he looked away from her and finally began walking back to his car for real. There was this ... feeling, like a weight that he didn't know had been weighing down was now off of his shoulders. Percy was practically striding back to his car with a smile on his face. His heart truly felt mended back together now.

Yeah, he was glad he forgave Annabeth.

...

Percy stared at the odd building that was the Triskelion as he reached the security booth to cross the bridge. Percy sense a recollection, the scene practically mirroring that day when he went to kill that Inhuman, Hunter Robertson. Gosh, that felt like forever ago now. This time, though, he was entering as an official agent of SHIELD. Percy held up his very own badge for the security guard to see as he crouched down to window-level.

"Welcome, Agent Jackson."

The guard lifted the bar inside the booth, letting Percy through as he passed the bridge and drove into the parking lot. He found a spot to park in before shut off the car and stepped out. He locked the car and adjusted his personal unzipped, black SHIELD jacket. Below the jacket, he wore a white shirt with a big, grey SHIELD logo plastered in the middle of it and black combat pants while combat boots to finish off the look.

He swiftly strode up to the Triskelion, entered the building and smiled as the other agents walked past him. Percy made his way to the big SHIELD logo statue where Agent Jasper Sitwell waited for him.

"Agent Jackson," he greeted. "Director Fury is waiting for you in his office."

Percy nodded curtly, quickly replying with a "thank you" before sauntering over to the elevator, pressing the button the 19th floor, which he remembered was where Director Fury's office was.

After the events of the alien invasion, it was safe to say that "Phase 2" was scrapped altogether and as Fury told him, they would be sticking with the Avengers Initiative. Percy remembered being furious when he had first learned about Phase 2 and when Fury defended the plan, but he had to clarify to Percy the situation. His plan all along was the Avengers Initiative but the Council saw it as an absurd and preposterous idea, so they scrapped it and motioned for Phase 2. Like Fury, he never put in all of his cards into Phase 2, because he always leaned in favor of the Avengers Initiative and it was activated once Loki had stolen the Tesseract. So Percy couldn't really blame Fury, because the fools that were running the Council were the ones to blame for the mess that Loki brought. After all, they're the ones that suggested that Manhattan be fucking nuked after they couldn't cope with Loki.

Percy was still offering his services, as long as it was Director Fury himself who gave him the missions and the Director agreed with the proposition.

The elevator doors finally opened to the 19th floor and Percy stepped out before making his way to Director Fury's office. The door had Fury's name tag attached to the frame and Percy politely knocked on the door, knowing how rude it would be to just burst inside. "Yes?" he heard Director Fury answer on the other side."Director Fury, it's me. Agent Jackson," Percy announced.

"Come in," the Director of SHIELD responded.

Percy turned the doorknob and opened the door before going inside and closing the door behind him. "So ... you called?"

"I did," Fury confirmed. "I have a mission for you."

"My very first one."

"And the first of many, hopefully."

"Oh, don't worry. I don't plan on dying."

"I would hope not," Director Fury responded. "So ... are you ready?"

Percy nodded. "Bring it on. What do you got for me?"

Fury raised his eyebrows before he plopped a folder on the table in front of Percy.

And ... scene. That concludes the first story of the series.

Forgiving his ex, you probably never expected it, but as a way to conclude this beginning of a telling about Percy finding redemption within himself, this was probably the best way to do it. Let go of any past troubles, and he shall hold no hate in his heart. Also, I debunked another cliche that I find absolutely ridiculous: oblivious Percy. You have no idea how many times I see that cliche so that scene was simply there to kick it to the curb. There is simply no way I can believe Percy to be oblivious, it really wouldn't make any sense. And lastly, Percy's first mission sent out by Director Fury. That was a nice way to wrap up this story.

In the next story, there will obviously be a time jump. Some people have asked if I'll have Percy link up with the Agents of SHIELD from the show and the answer is no. For the first half of the story, I want to come up with an original idea. There will be a villain, from the Marvel Comics that hasn't ... exactly been used yet, but this is someone that will give Percy a lot of trouble. He's gonna be a real headache to Percy and he will almost be Percy's personal villain that he has to deal with, all while being an agent of SHIELD. The second half of the story will consist of the events of The Winter Soldier, most of them anyway. Considering Percy is an agent of SHIELD, the perspective will be of someone that's inside SHIELD, and Percy will learn how the mysterious villain linked up with the rest of the events. This only ends one way and we all know how.

That's all I really have to say. This story ends here, but I'll try to get started on the next story whenever I can. The next story of the series is called Marvel's Percy Jackson: The Fall of SHIELD. Keep a lookout for that story. Until then, Imma start brainstorming. See you guys then.