Percy had been to more trials than he'd expected in his life. Usually as the defendant, but still, as a kid, he'd never expected to spend as much time as he had in court rooms. The few he'd been directly involved in hand, of course, gone rather poorly in his opinion. But he'd never seen a trial derail as fast, and as painfully, as Castle's had. For a while, it seemed as though Foggy's defense of mental deficiency, brought on by some disease Percy couldn't remember, as a result of the bullet in his head and the trauma of losing his family, would get Castle out of prison.

Then Matt Murdock happened.

Percy wasn't entirely sure what the man's plan had been, or even what Castle himself had been thinking. But Murdock's testimony had been as much about himself, or rather the Devil, as it had been about Castle. Something Percy was certain Castle hadn't missed. All the same, whatever Murdock had been attempting to do, backfired in the most spectacular way possible. Castle had not talked about the grief and loss and mental fatigue brought on by the loss of his family but had sabotaged his own damn defense. Had claimed he not only knew what he was doing but was willing and able to do it all over again.

It had been ugly, and Castle had needed to be physically restrained.

As far as Percy was concerned, he didn't really mind one way or the other. On the one hand, he felt for Castle, empathized and more than understood his motives and rationalities. It had been why he'd been so willing to help Foggy and Murdock with their defense. Percy had recognized a wounded soul, and knew the man needed help. The kind of help he might only get in a psyche ward. On the other hand, that kind of lawless vigilantism, was the opposite of what New York needed. The only reason Percy approved of what the Devil was doing, was because he tried to work within the bounds of the law, tried to get the system to work the way it was meant to work, and capture the men and woman who otherwise wouldn't have been convicted.

Castle was a different animal altogether. He was literally operating as judge, jury, and executioner. Were the people he put down dangerous, horrible men? Unquestionably, but it was the principal of the matter. People only followed the law, in Percy's opinion, because they were afraid of the consequences behind breaking the law. When the rules were thrown out the window, and mob justice took hold, was when law and order broke down entirely, with civilized rule following shortly thereafter.

Percy had used that very tactic to astonishing effectiveness numerous times in the past, while working for his former employer.

So, he wasn't all that broken up when Castle was sentenced. He did feel rather defeated when it appeared that his talk with Foggy, and whatever progress they'd made in regard to Foggy's relationship with Matt, had utterly deteriorated. Percy had watched, from a distance, as the two had exploded at one another, on the steps of the courthouse. Resulting in, what Percy assumed, was likely the dissolution of Nelson and Murdock.

That had hurt, but also had not been entirely unexpected. He'd been in Matt's position in the past. For a while, he'd tried to keep the true nature of his work with the organization from his mother. Sure, she knew he was working in some capacity for the government, but she didn't know exactly what he'd been doing. It had torn him apart, the constant lying, avoiding her questions and call, and giving her the ring around. It had all come to a head when Widow had called his mother, after Percy was hurt during a job, and had spent a few weeks in a field hospital in Germany, breathing through a tube.

He'd stopped lying after that.

He'd hated lying to his mother, but it was like he told Foggy. People in his line of work, they didn't want to drag the people they cared about into their messy lives if they could avoid. The world they lived in was dark, messy, and often unforgiving. Not to mention, the kinds of enemies one made doing what he'd done. It was why he'd gone to exceptional lengths, to ensure the safety of his family. To surround them with ancient Greek spells and enchantments. To utilize the best of Stark's tech and drop them off the grid entirely. Nobody, but a small, select few, even knew their whereabouts. All to keep them away from what Percy did for a living.

It was misguided in some respects. But where his family was concerned, Percy wasn't going to take any chances. So, while he understood Matt's position, and likely understood his reasoning, he knew the man needed to come to his senses. He also knew that the man was going to have to come to those realizations on his own. Percy knew Matt's type, after all, Percy was cut from the same cloth. Stubborn to an absurd degree. Any attempt by Percy to force the man to see reason would result in frustration, and probably a fight. Which was why he'd tried to help him through Foggy.

Another failure to add to the growing list of failures that was his life.

Percy screwed his eyes shut and sunk deeper into the couch.

"Stop thinking like that Jackson, it's not healthy. Not good for you." He muttered out loud, trying to shake the feelings and the thoughts from his head. He sighed, running a hand over his face, idly noting that maybe it was time for a shave. The whiskers on his cheeks and chin were starting to grow longer, and thicker.

Or maybe he wouldn't shave? Grow out the beard perhaps. A new look for a new Percy? Cliché though it may seem, it was true in a sense. Having a physical change in appearance, to coincide with a life change, was often important to one's own mental health. He'd ask Jean, her opinion mattered more than his own half-baked ideas about the symbolic nature of facial hair.

He shook his head again. It had been a few days since the end of the trial, and the end of Percy's involvement with Nelson and Murdock. He'd sent Foggy a letter, containing his personal information as well as a few ways to get in touch with him, should the need ever arise, but apart from that, Percy was left doing nothing. Nothing but waiting for the weekend when Jean would finally be back from the Institute.

She was supposed to have been back already, but there had been some kind of an issue that arose down in the panhandle, that required the team's attention. Percy had offered to go, but his offer had been declined. Whatever was going down was apparently not that dangerous, but an in-house matter. He was just annoyed, his only immediate plans for the next who knew how long was spending time with Jean. Now that that was no longer an option, he was back to going stir crazy.

Right up until his phone started ringing.

Pulling the phone out, Percy's brows rose slightly at seeing Murdock's name flash across the front of the screen. Sliding a finger across, Percy answered, leaning back in his chair as he did so.

"Hey there horn head, how's it goin?"

There was a pause, and Percy could all but hear the man's jaw clench in mounting aggravation.

"I…may be a bit in over my head right now and could use some help." Murdock said slowly, sounding as though the very admission was causing him tremendous amounts of pain.

Murdock had Percy's full attention, and he sat up from the couch tucking the phone against one ear as he turned and began walking towards his bedroom.

"What's going on?" Percy asked, flipping through his closet as he searched for one of his ready packs.

"I've been…spreading myself a little too thin lately." Murdock said, "I'm guessing you might already know this, but I was working another contract with a slightly different client."

Percy didn't bother to hide or stop the snort that came to him, "That code for porking your ex?"

Murdock growled, but otherwise ignored the jab, "During the course of our…investigation, I ran into a group who was kidnapping children. Experimenting on them."

Percy froze, nearly dropping the duffel bag in his hand. "What kind of experiments?" he asked slowly, images of the facility in Canada popping into his mind's eye. The strange man Rostam, and the child mutants and demigods that had been stolen away for experimentation.

"Not sure," Murdock said, "It looked like they were being drained of their blood or something. I'm not sure, look, that's not the point. I already rescued them, and they're sitting in Metro-General as one of my friends tries to keep them alive.

Percy groaned, making a conscious decision to drop the bag he was holding on the floor. "What?" Murdock said roughly, "You have a problem with what I did? Think I should have just left those kids to die in the hole I found them in? Would have been more convenient for your own publicity I'm sure."

It was Percy's turn to growl, "Listen pal, I don't know why you got a problem with me, and frankly I don't care. All I've done is bend over backwards to accommodate you and your wishes, but you've spent the last several days acting like a child." Murdock made a sound like he wanted to rebut the claim, but Percy just cut over him, "No, of course I don't think you should have left those kids wherever you found them. I just wished you would have called me. That way we could have extracted them to someplace safe. What the hell do you think is going to happen when whoever handled them finds out they're missing?"

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"I hadn't thought of that," Murdock finally admitted.

Percy just shook his head ruefully. It didn't matter how skilled someone thought they were. Or how much experience they thought they had. There were always mistakes to be made, and Percy once again reminded that in spite of the man's clear ability, Murdock was very new to the game he was trying to play.

"I'll make some calls, see what I can do. Who are we up against?"

Once again, there was silence on the other end of the line.

"Murdock," Percy said, "I can't help you, if I don't know what I'm trying to fight. What are we looking at here, Mob? Yakuza? What?"

Again, there was silence. Percy's only reassurance that the man was still connected, were the minor sounds of traffic Percy could hear in the background of wherever he was going.

"They call themselves the hand," Murdock said, finally.

Percy snorted, "Well that's cute. Is there a Foot we should worry about too?"

"This is serious!" Murdock growled, and Percy managed to get his chuckling under control, "I trust you," Percy reassured, as he began pulling gear and equipment out of a storage space

under his closet.

"So, tell me all about this Hand,"

"I-I didn't think they were real myself at first. Thought they were just a fairy tale. Turns out, I was wrong. They're organized, originated from Eastern Asia. They have money, power, and a lot of pull. I-I don't know what their plan is, but it has something to do with those kids I pulled, and whatever device they have under the city."

"Hidden subterranean devices are never good," Percy mumbled, "Ok, what are we looking at in terms of armaments, skills, abilities. Are they enhanced in any way?"

"Enhanced?" Murdock asked, sounding confused.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Can they do the type of shit I can do, or are they like Cap? Can they summon lighting from the damn sky, or can they just punch super good?"

There was another long pause, and Percy growled, finally getting annoyed, "Enough with the melodrama Murdock, whatever you have, spill it."

Percy's shout seemed to jolt Murdock out of whatever stupor he was stuck in, "There's a guy, at first I just thought he was Yakuza, but I guess, he was with the Hand this entire time. His name is Nobu. Not-not enhanced, I suppose, not in the way you're describing anyway. But, well, he's dead."

Percy arched one brow, as he moved to leave his bedroom, "Wild. That's almost

like it's something humans do. I take there's a reason that you're mentioning this walking miracle?"

"If you'd shut up and let me finish," Murdock huffed, sounding agitated himself, "it is a miracle, since I saw him alive last night, after I watched him get burned alive six months ago,"

Percy stopped in his tracks, one hand on the door to his hall closet, "Huh," he mused idly. "Well, that's certainly...different."

"That's not all," Murdock continued, "When I saw him last night, he said there's no such thing as death, mean anything to you?"

Well, I can think of a few people who would very much dispute that claim, Percy mused to himself. But that does raise a few questions. Did this guy get lucky, or are we talking about something else entirely here? There were a lot of potential red flags with that statement. Part of Percy wanted to simply brush off this Nobu guy as just a coincidence. As something not worth noting. Murdock was new to the job, was new to the life, and hadn't seen or experienced enough yet to truly know what he was doing or talking about. On the other hand,

Percy hadn't lived as long he had, especially after leaving his old life, without a healthy level of paranoia. Paranoia and instinct. And at that moment, Percy's instincts were telling him that there was something very hinky going on.

"Alright," Percy said slowly, moving away from his closet and walking back to his bedroom,

"Alright," Percy said again, as he gathered his thoughts and formulated a quick plan, "You said the kids were where again?"

"Metro-General, I have a friend watching out for them,"

"Alone?" Percy asked, incredulous, "What, is she a former SEAL or something?"

Silence, before, "...She's a nurse,"

"Well then where the hell are you?" Percy demanded, throwing his free hand in the air in irritation,

"I have a... work problem, I have to deal with,"

Groaning, Percy was starting to understand Foggy's mounting annoyance with his best friend a bit better,

"You get off on being cryptic as hell I know you do," Percy mumbled.

Sighing, and pinching the bridge of his nose, Percy let loose a strung of curses, and muttered to himself about rookies and cleaning up after people.

"Ok, I'm going to make some calls. Then, I'm moving those kids. The longer they stay where they are, the longer they're a target."

"That doesn't solve the immediate problem of the Hand."

"If you're calling me because you think there might be an attack. Then I trust that they're going to attack. Only, instead of finding their kids, when they show up, they're going to find me."

"I'm going too-" Murdock tried to say,

"And leave those kids unattended? Absolutely not. I'll drop you off at the safehouse myself when all is said and done. You've got some talent, and it's clear you got a decent head on your shoulders, but you got a hell of a lot to learn yet. Punisher might have been your show, but this is mine now." Percy's tone brooked no arguments. He was getting tired of Murdock giving him the run around. He liked the guy, or rather, he liked what he was trying to do. But he green, very green. He only thought things through about halfway, and he was running himself into the ground. Foggy had been right, the man had absolutely no way to balance his two lives at the moment. Something, Percy figured, would have to change and soon.

"Call me when you're done with whatever this 'work' thing of yours is over, and I'll see about moving you to the new location. Don't even try to bother hiding from me or pulling some comic bullshit and showing up to help me fight, you know I can and will find you." And then, before Murdock would have any chance to reply, Percy ended the call.

He rubbed at his face; this was quickly turning into a mess. A mess that was only worsened when he received an alert on his phone. Percy's first instinct was to ignore it, but Jarvis' voice rang through the speaker,

"Sir, I would highly recommend checking your device," Curious, and more apprehensive than ever, Percy did as he was bade. Then he promptly swore,

PRISON BREAK: FRANK CASTLE ESCAPES MAX SECURITY PRISON

The amber alert banner was large enough on his phone's screen, that it took up half of the damn screen.

"If it's not one thing it's another," Percy muttered to himself. He figured that was likely what Murdock's 'Emergency Work Thing' was all about. Not surprising, the man had been his client. Technically. He would deal with that at another time. In the immediate future, his primary worry was seeing about the sudden appearance of these kidnapped children. He already knew what he wanted to do; he just wasn't certain how well this was going to go.

"Not sure who's going to be more pissed," he mused to himself, "Pepper, or Tony,"

With another swipe of his fingers, Percy brought up Pepper's name on his phone's contact list.

The phone only rang three times, before Pepper answered,

"Hey Pep," Percy said, trying his best to sound cheerful, "Quick question, have you and Tony ever considered expanding into medicine?"

BREAK

Claire had had some pretty bad days before. Twelve-hour shifts that had turned into twenty-four-hour shifts, the incident. The time she'd watched and helped a man get tortured, but today was going to probably find itself somewhere on her top ten before too long. First there had been the fun surprise of having five kids brought in, all looking like they'd been on a weeklong bender. Their bloodwork was wild, they were borderline comatose, and she wasn't even sure if they would be able to stabilize any of them. Then Matt, of all people, had to come in and let her know that not only were her newest patients because of him. But the people who had taken the kids in the first place were likely going to come back at some point, in order to 'reclaim' their property.

Whatever the hell that had meant.

The only plus side was that Matt finally seemed to maybe be getting the hint that he would not be able to fight every battle alone. He had mentioned something about calling a friend in and having them watch over the kids. She took some solace in knowing that she wasn't going to be sitting there, potentially defenseless, as whoever was responsible came in and took the kids.

Putting the needle, she had been using to feed more antibiotics into one of the kid's IV's back

into the bin, she turned and started taking her gloves off, only for her nose to suddenly fill with the scent of sea water. Looking up, she barely held in a scream, as Sentinel, or Percy as he seemed to prefer, appeared out of thin air, only a few feet behind her.

"Jesus," She hissed, placing a hand over her heart, in a vain attempt to stop it from racing out of her chest. "How about a little warning before you pull that shit, huh?"

Her heart finally coming back under control, she finally managed to get a good look at him. He was dressed very differently from the last time she'd seen him. Gone were the civilian clothes of a man trying to live his life, and in their stead were what looked like changed tactile equipment.

Navy blue tactical pants were tucked into tall, black greaves, that sat over black boots. A hardy looking chest piece, also navy blue, with silver trim adorned his chest. Parts of the body armor woven into the fabric piece were outlined, showing where his pectorals, down to his abdomen were protected. There was a silver trident, ensconced in a silver circle in the center of his chest. His hands and forearms were protected by black gloves and bracers of some kind. On his right shoulder, was the image of a mountain, a bolt of lightning streaking over the tip of the peak, and on his left shoulder, the insignia for the Avengers. A red and silver A, with the tail of the A coming up and around to encircle the rest of the letter.

This was not the same man she'd seen before. This was not the worried citizen, trying to help a scared and wounded little girl. This was the man who had fought back an alien invasion. This was the man that had helped destroy those giant flying ships in D.C.

This was an Avenger.

The other nurses in the ward had finally noticed the man's sudden appearance and were frozen in place. Staring in muted wonder at the living legend suddenly standing in their midst.

Blinking, she tried to recompose herself slightly, "Nice clothes, finally get yourself an upgrade?" She asked, trying to stifle the sudden heavy mood that seemed to materialize around the pair of them.

"Tony decided that I if I was going to go all in on this whole superhero thing that I needed to look the part." He said easily, his gaze sweeping around the room, taking in the beds and the children lying in them. His gaze eventually turned back to her, "Got a call from a friend of mine.

Told me these kids were in danger. We're going to be moving them to a new location. Are they stable enough for transport?"

Claire blinked in surprise, before turning to look at the kids, and looking back at Percy. "W-what?" she asked, feeling slightly confused, and more than suddenly overwhelmed, "You can't just-"

Percy waved her off, "Can, will, and have to. They're not safe here, and neither is anybody in the ward. How many patients do you have in here right now?"

"Just them for the moment, oh and someone from the shooting at the D.A.'s office."

That seemed to surprise Percy, as he looked at her in surprise for a second, before dawning realization crossed over his features, and he rubbed tiredly at his face,

"Damn, wasn't expecting him to move so soon." He muttered.

"Didn't expect who to move so soon?" she asked, but Percy waved her off again,

"Not important, grab him, and bring him in here, we're moving all of you. These kids shouldn't have been brought here in the first place, but we don't have the time to deal with that right now. We need to move and quickly, before whoever is after them finally pieces it together that they're here and shows up looking for them."

It was all entirely too much, and happening far too fast, and Claire needed to put her foot down.

"You can't just move them, not without proper-"

"You all are coming with them; I'm clearing the building." Percy cut over her, bringing one of his bracers up, as a holographic display came to life. A series of commands were on the screen, and Percy rapidly began flicking through them, typing with one hand. Suddenly, all of the pagers in the ward went off at once. Confused, curious, and feeling slightly sick to her stomach, Claire reached down and grabbed her pager. There on the screen, was an evacuation order, coming from an unknown number, but with the proper requisition codes for the hospital. Disbelief washing over her face, Claire looked between the pager, and then Percy, unsure of what to say or how to continue. But, too bad for her, the man was already moving.

Walking over to the closest bed, a young girl.

"Wait, how are you going to-this can't be legal-Percy what the hell is happening!" Claire shouted, but he ignored her, choosing instead to do a cursory glance at the girl on the bed, before nodding to himself. As though he were satisfied with what he saw. Before anyone could say or do anything, he grabbed the bed with one hand, before reaching over, and grabbing Jackie, one her fellow nurses on the ward, and disappearing in a sudden flurry of mist.

Claire's mouth opened and closed, and she was unable to find her voice,

"W-what, what just happened?" Louisa stammered out, as her head turned from Claire to where Percy had been, "Claire…what's happening? What's going on, and why does it look like you know Sentinel?"

"Right, you were working the day shift," Claire said softly, still feeling rather dazed at what had happened, "He came in the other night remember? He helped the night shift secure those gangbangers we were patching up all day."

"Ok…" Louisa said slowly, "So why the hell is he here, and why the hell, did he just kidnap Jackie and one of our patients?"

"I have no idea!" Claire lied effortlessly, throwing her hands in the air. While she knew why Percy was there, knowing that Matt had probably called him about whatever the hell was going on, she still didn't know the full the scale of the situation.

Before anyone else could comment, the scent of seawater once again filled the room, as Percy re-emerged. Before anyone could do anything else, he put his hand on two more beds and disappeared again.

"I feel like we should be doing something to stop this," Louisa said simply, staring in muted disbelief at the missing beds.

"You want to be the one to get in the way of the man who can summon water and go toe to toe with Thor?"

"Those two have never fought, have they?" Louisa asked,

Claire just shrugged, "I have no idea, but would you be surprised?"

"No," Louisa conceded, crossing her arms, "Ok but seriously, we should-we should probably be calling the cops or something, right?"

"Probably?" Claire said, the statement coming out more like a question than affirmation.

Before the discussion could continue, however, Percy reappeared, grabbing the fourth bed, and wrapping his free hand around Louisa, "Wait, wait, wait!" Louisa tried to protest, but Percy just ignored her. There was another light misting, and he was gone, leaving Claire alone in the ward with the remaining patient. Swearing under her breath, she decided there was no use in fighting what was happening. Especially if Matt was serious enough about whatever this threat was, to bring Percy in. Turning on her heel, she marched out of the ward, and made her way to the remaining patient.

She stopped in her tracks, as she entered the room of the only other patient, seeing the familiar mop of blonde curls of Foggy Nelson.

"Foggy?" She asked, confused,

The man in question turned his attention away from the television he had been watching, and looked at Claire, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Claire?" He asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Raising an eyebrow, she just looked down at her scrubs, then looked at him. Foggy colored slightly in embarrassment,

"Right, nurse, sorry. Dumb question."

Claire rolled her eyes, and approached Foggy, "It's fine. But what are you doing here, were you the one shot at the D.A.'s office?" she asked in muted concern. Granted, she didn't really know

Foggy, but he seemed as innocent as puppy, and he had no business being around or near gunfire.

Foggy shrugged, then at once regretted it. Wincing in pain as one hand moved to shoot to the wound on his shoulder. Claire was already on top of him, deftly moving the hand away from his shoulder, and checking on the stitched wound. A quick inspection confirmed that he had not torn the stitches in his shoulder.

"Your boy has been busy," She commented, stepping back and away from him. Foggy looked at her in confusion, then his eyes narrowed in annoyance when she mimed a pair of devil horns over her head. Claire raised a brow at Foggy,

"You two not playing nice?" She asked, and Foggy averted his gaze.

"Something like that. His…evening activities cost us the Castle case. We're…not really having the best go of it if I'm honest."

"His priorities are way out of whack," Claire agreed, tossing a look back over her shoulder to where the other patients had been, "But…" she turned her attention back to Foggy, "He did bring five kids in, who look like they've been shot up with some serious shit. Whatever else is going on with him, you can't deny that he's doing decent work."

"Yeah…" Foggy trailed off, looking uncomfortable, "But what's going on, you look like something is happening,"

Claire nodded, then winced slightly, "So, about those kids I just mentioned, our boy might have taken them from someone who wants them back. He's concerned that someone might be planning an attack on the hospital. He, erm, called in our friend from the other night. Percy?"

That certainly got Foggy's attention, as he sat a little straighter in the bed.

"Really?" He asked, "He's here, right now,"

"More or less," Came the aforementioned man's voice from the doorway to the ward, drawing the pairs attention away from one another.

Foggy let out a low whistle, "Liking the new look," he commented, then grew a touch more serious, and more than a little fearful, "What's this about an attack?" He asked,

"Should be asking you that," Percy said, striding up and standing next to Foggy at the bedside.

"The hell happened. Please don't tell me you're the one who got shot,"

Foggy grimaced, "Guilty," He said, making sure to only shrug his good shoulder,

A crossed look passed over Percy's face, "Should have let me gut him," Percy muttered to himself, before shaking his head, "Guess it doesn't matter. Claire fill you in?"

"A little, but what's going on, what's this about Matt and an attack?"

Percy made an annoyed noise, "Guy's got some skill but he's still a rookie at all of this. He should have brought me into whatever was going on and pissed off some people who sound pretty damn powerful. So, I'm evacuating the building to a new location, I had the patients scanned by Jarvis when we got them to the safe-house, and we don't think whoever is looking for them has any way to track them. But even if they do, they won't have much luck getting to them where they are." He turned to Claire, all the kids are gone, all that's left on the floor is you two."

"Awe crap," Claire muttered,

"Try not to puke," Percy said, a cheeky grin on his face. Foggy just looked between the pair, confusion written on his face.

"Huh?" Foggy asked but was cut off when Percy grabbed Claire around the wrist, and the bar of Foggy's bed. Claire then felt a strange pull around her midsection, which was followed at once by the feeling of being squeezed through something entirely too tight to be comfortable. It was like a roller coaster ride, in all of the worst ways. The discomfort lasted only for a matter of moments however, as her feet found purchase on solid ground soon enough.

A feeling of nausea, the kind she associated with flying or going upside down, washed over her, and she doubled over slightly, groaning in discomfort.

"You're an asshole," She hissed out, as she struggled to find her breath.

Percy chuckled,

Claire managed to regain her breathing, and settle her stomach enough, to get a better look at her surroundings. They were in what looked like a large living room, in the nicest penthouse in Manhattan. Floor to ceiling glass windows lined the walls, giving the occupants an absolutely breathtaking view of the New York skyline. The interior was sparse, save for the beds of the pattens, but there were scrapes and scratches on the floor, that shown there had once been furniture.

Off to one side, was what looked like a fully stocked bar. Tucked into a corner on the far wall, was a pool table. Off to one side, was a beautiful, all glass staircase. Walking over and looking down, Claire saw that there were several more floors below, as beautifully constructed as the room she was in.

Turning away from the staircase, and looking at Percy, who was bent over a terminal typing something, she asked, "Where the hell are, we?" But Percy wasn't the one to answer,

"Avenger's HQ, formerly Stark Tower," came a feminine voice from behind her. Turning, Claire watched as a woman she didn't recognize approached. She was tall, athletic, with chestnut hair pulled back into a tight bun on her head. The woman extended a hand to Claire as she approached,

"Maria Hill, current director of Avengers Operations." Claire looked at the woman warily, before gripping the hand gently. Hill's grip was strong, and the woman seemed to almost crush Claire's hand in her own.

"Someone want to explain what's going on?" Came a familiar voice from the corner. Turning to the sound, Claire was relieved, though she wasn't sure why, to see Jackie standing against the far wall, checking one of the kid's vitals.

"Could definitely use a reason why we shouldn't be calling the cops. Avengers or not," Louisa chimed in, also hovering over one of the kids.

"They are coming, aren't they?" Came another familiar voice. She hadn't even seen him previously, not in the hospital nor in the room they were currently in. In all of the excitement of being moved, halfway across the city-a fact that Claire was still trying to process-she had forgotten about Mr. Gibson. The man who had come in with the kids and had refused to leave his son's side since his arrival.

"They're coming back for him, they want my son back, don't they?" He stammered out, clutching the side of his son's bed, his face drained of all color.

"Probably," Percy said dryly, still looking at whatever was on the terminal in front of him.

"Jesus Christ," Louisa ground out, finally hitting her peak, "Enough with the damn pronoun game. Who the hell are you talking about, and what is going on? Why did you kidnap us?"

Percy still didn't look up, as began typing in something new to the command strip, "Those kids were sent to the hospital by the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, not the NYPD. They were found after being kidnapped and seemingly experimented on by an organization known as the Hand. They're your standard generic bad guy group from the looks of it." He pointed a finger at the screen he was reading, "Blackmail, extortion, power broking, assassinations. Pretty standard shit honestly. Kind of like a HYDRA lite. All the delicious evil flavors, none of the calories."

"You always this much of an asshole?" Jackie muttered, more to herself, but Percy still seemed to hear her.

"Little bit," He admitted, "Keeps me sane." He finished typing in whatever it was on the database, "I've spent a good portion of the day going over everything my former bosses had on these Hand guys. They're serious, but nothing too bad. Still, they're a threat, hence why I moved you. There's enough security in this place to make the Pentagon look like a McDonalds

Play Place. You guy's will be safe while I deal with these Hand dudes."

"By yourself?" Stammered out Gibson, "Y-you can't be serious! T-they're unstoppable, they have people everywhere, r-resources you can't-"

He stopped abruptly when Percy finally looked up from his work, and just stared at the man. Gibson gulped, then took a quick glance around the room,

"You make a compelling argument,"

Percy didn't respond, and the room fell silent, until Claire finally couldn't take it, "So what?" she asked, "Are we just supposed to hang out until this is all over with? We kind of have jobs you know. Can't just hang out here all day."

"Sure, you can," Percy said simply, "Considering Stark Industries now owns Metro-General, and I have been, temporarily, put in charge of day-to-day operations. Congrats, you're now under new management."

Claire opened her mouth, then closed it, opened it again, and decided that it wasn't worth fighting. Her life had gotten entirely too weird the last several months, and she was over it. Completely. Instead, she opted to head over, begin working routine inspections on the unattended patients.

She noted idly, that Foggy had been quiet the entire time. He seems, annoyingly at ease with wild new circumstances, hell, of her fellow nurses seemed to be distressingly at ease with the situation. She supposed that living in a world with alien attacks and honest to god superheroes tended to desensitize people to weird and unexplainable circumstances.

"Jarvis" Percy called out, "Where are we on that analysis of their blood stream?"

A voice jumped out across the room, starling Claire slightly, "Chemical analysis is complete sir, though I must admit, it is a combination of chemicals that I am unfamiliar with. I confess that I have absolutely no idea what it is, or what it could be for."

Chemicals? Well that would certainly explain the strange bloodwork that they'd been finding in the bodies of the victims.

Percy frowned, "Any chance I might be able to pull it out of them?" He asked the ceiling,

"I believe that you would be able to effectively remove the chemicals from their bloodstream with little to no adverse risk to the patient's sir,

Nodding in satisfaction, Percy marched away from the station he'd been working at, "Hill, you have the-"

"Right here," she said, holding up a large glass. Nodding in apparent satisfaction, Percy stopped in front of the patients, the little girl. He gently opened the girl's mouth and stepped back a bit. Before anyone could think to stop whatever, he was going to do, Percy outstretched one hand over the girl's gaping mouth, and closed his eyes. There was a sudden increase in air pressure, as though there were about to be a sudden powerful storm. The girl's body then jerked suddenly, and violently. All three nurses moved to intercept, and potentially stop whatever was happening, but the woman, Hill, stepped between the three, a handgun materializing in her free hand.

"Stop," She ordered, causing all three women to cease their movement, "He knows what he's doing."

All of Claire's training was screaming at her to stop whatever was happening, whatever he was trying to do. Especially given the way the girl's body started to twitch violently, and the heartbeat monitor started to beat more rapidly. However, the image of the same man, looking scared and yet determined, as he tried to help a little girl with shrapnel in her leg, jumped to the forefront of Claire's mind. She had seen firsthand the good in the man before her, knew he had only pure intentions, not only for the world, but for the child in the bed. Against her training, and perhaps even her judgement, she didn't make any more moves to stop whatever was happening.

The girl gasped, as her back arched up off the bed. Then, her jaw seemed to open wider, as a green…sludge slowly began to float out of her mouth. It was thin, and water like, neon green in appearance, and almost seemed to shine, even in the well-lit room. For several seconds, the strange liquid rose up into the air, out of the girl's mouth. After several tense moments, the remained of the ooze, seemed to be out of the girl, hanging in the air above the girl. There was some movement out of the corner of Claire's eye, and she saw as Hill walked up beside Percy, holding out the glass to Percy. Opening his eyes, Percy turned his hand, the strange ooze following him as he moved. Gently, Percy began turning his hand, as though he were pouring water into a glass, the ooze turned with the movement, and began to steadily fill the glass. Drip by drip the glass began to fill, until the ooze nearly filled the glass to the brim.

With a sigh, Percy relaxed, and Hill placed her weapon down on a nearby cart, before grabbing a lid and carefully screwing on the top of the glass.

"What-what was that?" Claire asked, when she finally found the courage to speak, even as she darted forward to begin examining the girl.

Taking the glass form Hill, Percy raised it to the light, and inspected it, "This," Percy said, "Is whatever those Hand guys were pumping into the bloodstream of these kids. The reason their bloodwork was so wonky. The Hand wasn't draining them of their blood, or anything like that, they were being used as…storage. I guess that would be the best way to describe it. Not sure why yet, can't be good though. You don't pump a kid full of green ooze 'casue you care about them."

Claire was only half listening, paying much more attention to the girl on the bed. Already, however, the girl seemed to be having a positive reaction. With the green ooze out of her, the color was starting to return to her cheeks. She was still stick thin, almost sickly, but her cheeks no longer looked hollow, and the pockmarks on her skin were starting to disappear. It was beyond anything Claire had ever seen before.

"Starting to think there's a little more mysticism to all this, rather than science," Percy murmured softly to Hill,

"One of yours?" Hill asked back, equally as soft. Percy shook his head,

"Doubt it. My…people, they leave a trace, a sensation I can literally feel. If they had been involved, I'd feel it. There's definitely something there though. Equally familiar and yet not at the same time. I don't know yet, but I'm starting to think we might be stumbling onto something a bit bigger than even we initially suspected."

"Thinking about calling in the others?" Hill asked,

Percy shook his head, "Already tried that. Thor is off world, Steve and Sam are off the grid. Same goes for Widow and Hawkeye," That seemed to get Hill's attention, as she raised an eyebrow at him. A dark expression flittered over Percy's features, "Believe it or not Agent Hill, I am capable of putting aside personal issues when there are lives at stake."

Hill flinched slightly, and rubbed awkwardly at her shoulder, "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Percy waved off the apology, setting the glass down, his expression softening slightly. "Sorry," He apologized back, "Didn't mean to snap at you. Anyways, that only leaves Banner, Tony, and Rhodes. Rhodes is on deployment still; I will be sending this to Banner for him to take a look at. Even if it's outside his wheelhouse, I'm willing to bet there's someone he knows that can look into this, and Tony is…well…" He trailed off,

"Tony," Hill finished for him, smirking,

"Yeah," Percy chuckled. "But, like I said, we're going this alone for the time being. Which works out fine honestly, not like we don't anybody. He might be green, but the Devil does do decent work. Just needs some guidance is all. Anyways, let's get the rest of these finished up, still need to grab the Devil. Jarvis, how's the hospital looking?"

"All quiet so far sir," Percy nodded in satisfaction. They spent the next half hour repeating the process he'd done for the little girl, with the other kidnap victims. With five jars of green ooze sitting on a counter-top, ready to be transported to one Doctor Banner, wherever the hell he was.

"What now?" Claire asked, as she sanitized her hands,

"Now?" Percy asked, "Now I go and grab your bodyguard for the evening, and I go do a little pest control at the hospital." He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before abruptly leaving the room. He was gone for a few minutes, before returning with a simple looking box. It was small, maybe the size of a small book, and a rich brown color. Placing it softly on a nearby table, Percy opened it, before grabbing a simple looking pen, from the contents.

Hill, who had been watching in equal interest as the other nurses, looked shocked for a moment, confusing Claire even more.

"You think you're going to need that?" she asked, looking stunned. That just served to confuse Claire even more, what good was a pen going to do?

Percy looked uncomfortable, "Not sure. I hope not, but…something is off about all of this. Something I don't like. Better to be safe than sorry,"

Before Claire could say or do anything else, the man disappeared once more.

BREAK

The alarm had been triggered, none were certain who had been foolish enough to trip it, but it was not a matter of concern. The fire alarm could ring as loud as it wished, the Hand would have its prize again regardless.

They climbed steadily, their footsteps soft and assured, as the scaled the side of the building. One floor, two floors, three floors, finally stopping on the fourth. Pulling their tools out of their satchels, as one unit, they began to saw their way into the building. Like with all else they had done, it was quiet. The hand did not leave a trace, they did not leave evidence. The Hand, only left corpses.

They were inside the building. Making fast, yet careful progress towards where they knew their target was found. The Hand had connections at every level, in every discipline, in every government, on every continent. Finding the location of their missing animals was challenging task.

The sprinkler system activated but went ignored. A mere drizzle was no inconvenience. Not when their duty, their honor, their life was dedicated to a cause such as theirs.

The ward was empty. It was strange, perhaps a touch unsettling in fact. They had been informed that the ward in use had been cleared of other patients. That only their missing harvest lay inside. Yet they had still expected some form of resistance. Security, the nursing staff, something. Yet there was nothing. They trusted their family, trusted that someone had simply taken care of any potential difficulties ahead of their arrival. It was no matter; they were nearly at their quarry.

They pushed into the room, their blades drawn, ready for potential combat. Ready to dispatch any who would get between them, and their prize. Only the room was empty. There were no beds. No harvest to retrieve. Just an empty room. They looked amongst each other. Could they have been led astray?

No.

That was impossible.

Their intelligence was never incorrect. Never like this. Surely there was something else happening. Their hearts began to beat faster, fear that something was awry penetrating their inner focus for the first time. They were not used to being thrown off base like this. They were not accustomed to their intelligence being wrong. To being outmaneuvered. Someone had moved the bodies, had taken their prize from them. They needed to find out who had done this, and fast.

The water from the sprinklers was growing cold. And growing colder still. That was not right.

Why did it suddenly feel as though they had walked straight into a sleet storm?

The speakers in the building burbled to life, as a soft melody began to play. It was sweet, whimsical, a joyous tune. The cheerful melody was suddenly accompanied by singing. The soft and wondrous sounds of Gene Kelly, as he sang gayly in a soft rainfall. True fear, and panic began to emerge in their hearts. This was a trap. Someone had outmaneuvered the hand. Someone had cornered them.

It was wrong.

As one, they turned, and tried to flee from the foreboding feeling of doom, the terror rising in their hearts. But they couldn't.

The water grew colder. Grew thicker. Grew painful. Someone screamed. The sound of skin being pierced, and the splatter of blood.

The singing grew louder. Bolder. Ever more cheerful.

The water turned to ice. Razor sharp knives that pierced their skin, embedded in their armor.

One brother looked up, in time for his eye to be torn in half as ice shredded every inch of skin, muscle and tendon.

They tried to run. Tried to flee. Tried to escape.

The ice followed.

Their backs, legs, arms, heads. Nothing was safe from the onslaught of ice.

They collapsed. bleeding and dying. As their renewed lives were drained from their bodies, the image of a man in the hallway, his green eyes glowing in power and strength was the last thing they saw.

Then blackness consumed them all.

AN: Percy is like the ultimate horror movie villain. I love it. Did I steal this idea from my other story? Definitely, but I love it. Percy doesn't always have to brute force his way through something, and when he can outplay his opponents, it's a beautiful thing. This arc is wrapping up here shortly, next chapter will have a lot more action in it, as it brings the Devil Arc to a conclusion. Thanks again for all the love and support. Hope you're enjoying the ride, I got fun things in store for ya. See you tomorrow.

Love,

LilDB