Edit: So hateme101 has very helpfully pointed out that I somehow completely forgot to put Steve and Natasha in this chapter. I have no idea how that even happened. I feel like a massive idiot. I know it's not that big of a deal but it's going to annoy me forever if I don't fix it. So I'm just going to edit a few lines to make sure they're included. You don't have to read the updated version of this chapter since it's basically the same, I just gave one of Fitz's lines to Natahsa, one of Coulson's lines to Steve, and mentioned Natasha another time. I know that they would probably be a lot more involved in the conversation, along with a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, but balancing the dialogue between a ton of people would just draw away from the main conversation, which is mostly Coulson, Alyssa, and Tony. I guess just assume most of the people in the room have nothing to offer to the conversation or are too busy listening to say something. Anyway, thank you so much hateme101 for pointing that out, and I'm sorry to everyone who noticed.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse or Marvel or AC/DC or iPads. Trust me, suing me isn't worth it.
NINE
(S.H.I.E.L.D. is)
Outgunned, Outmanned, Outnumbered, Outplanned
~/~/~
Tony was soaring above New York.
He was wearing his suit, had located the Quinjet Alyssa was on and had had Jarvis prepare a course. He would be at the Quinjet in an hour or so.
The last thing to do was to call Coulson and tell him he was going to show up. He wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get shot out of the sky.
He put this off until he was about ten minutes from the Quinjet.
"JARVIS, call Phil Coulson," he said.
"Calling Phil Coulson," JARVIS's mechanical voice replied.
A circular image of Coulson's face, along with the words 'Calling Phil Coulson...' appeared in front of Tony's face, sort of like what you would see if you called someone using a phone.
Coulson picked up.
"Tony," he said. He didn't sound happy. "Are you going to ask about Alyssa again? I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything."
"Actually," Tony responded, "I wanted to tell you that I'm coming to your Quinjet. I'll be there in ten minutes."
"What?!," Coulson exclaimed. "You can't come here! What do you think you're doing?"
"Anyway, just wanted to warn you. See you soon!"
Tony hung up.
"JARVIS, play my usual dramatic escapades playlist. We have some agents to annoy."
AC/DC's Get It Hot started blasting through the speakers. Tony smiled and sped up, racing towards the Quinjet.
He had said ten minutes, but maybe he could get there in seven.
~/~/~
Alyssa was pacing her room, a bad habit of hers.
Suddenly, Coulson burst in. He started walking rather quickly towards her.
Alyssa turned to him. "Hi. What's up?"
"Tony Stark is coming here," Coulson said, sounding a bit out of breath and flustered. He grabbed her arm and started leading her towards the door.
"Who?" Alyssa asked. She thought she had heard the name mentioned a few times at camp but had forgotten who he was.
Coulson gave her a confused look. "You don't know who Tony Stark is?"
They turned a corner. Alyssa wasn't sure where he was leading her.
"No. I haven't had access to technology in six years, remember?"
"Oh, right," Coulson said. "Well, he's a billionaire superhero who-"
They walked into a sort of meeting room. A lot of agents, Alyssa assumed all or most of those on the ship, were there.
"Tell you later," Coulson finished. He started speaking to the room of agents. "Anyway, what have you guys come up with for where we could hide her?"
The brown-haired agent spoke up. "We're not sure if anywhere would work. Stark probably has thermal cameras and would be able to see where she is."
Coulson sighed. "Don't we have something that can make the wearer not be sensed by thermal cameras?"
The brown-haired agent gave the muscular dark-skinned man a look. "Not anymore."
"It was an accident!" The muscular agent protested.
Alyssa bit her cheek to keep from laughing.
"So what do you propose?" Coulson asked.
Natasha said, "Our best option might be to talk to him and work this out. He's seen the video, he knows she's here, so hiding her would make it clear we feel like we have something to hide."
Coulson nodded.
"Hold up," Alyssa said. The agents turned to her. "What video?"
"The interrogation video," Coulson said. "The one where Apollo appears."
Alyssa paled. She folded her arms to stop fidgeting. She felt a little dizzy.
"So he knows?" Her voice was tight. She was upset but mostly annoyed and disappointed. "It's only been a few days and a random mortal already knows?"
Coulson looked more annoyed about it than she did, if that was possible. "Yes. He hacks into S.H.I.E.L.D. databases a lot, just to annoy Nick Fury. He somehow found it."
Alyssa was about to say something along the lines of You put it on S.H.I.E.L.D. databases?! but Coulson put a hand up to stop her.
"We can make him not say anything. He's impulsive and annoying, but he wouldn't tell the public about something like this."
Alyssa was still fuming, but she didn't say anything else.
Just then, an agent in the back holding an iPad looked down at the screen and cursed. "He's waiting outside the main doors. Wants us to open them."
Coulson glanced at his watch. "It's only been eight minutes!" He sighed. "Yeah, let him in."
The agent pressed a button on the iPad. Alyssa could faintly hear the sound of large metal doors opening. Soon, there was a metallic clanking noise, like a robot walking. It got closer and closer.
A large red and gold suit soon walked in. Alyssa stared. Was Tony Stark in that thing?
Her question was soon answered. The faceplate of the suit popped up, and the rest of the suit opened.
A man stepped out. He had short ruffled dark brown hair, a circular goatee, and a cocky smirk. He was wearing jeans, socks, and a black shirt.
"Hey," he said. His eyes lazily scanned the room, taking in all of the agents. When his eyes met Alyssa's, he paused for a second and looked at her with an expression that Alyssa couldn't discern.
"Stark," Coulson replied. He didn't sound happy. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, just to talk," Tony said, coming to stand in front of Coulson. Alyssa, who was still standing next to Coulson, took a small step back. She wasn't sure how dangerous Tony was, but she wanted to be careful just in case. Though, she doubted a middle-aged mortal with socks and questionable facial hair could take her down.
"Talk about what?" Coulson asked suspiciously.
"Maybe what S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing with minors?"
"We only have one minor, and she's well taken care of. All we want is to find out the threat level of demigods, gods, and monsters."
"Are you sure?" Tony asked. He took another step closer to Coulson. "I feel like that's not all that S.H.I.E.L.D. wants."
"It might not be all that S.H.I.E.L.D. wants, but for now, we're the only part of S.H.I.E.L.D. that knows about this." Coulson said.
Tony stopped, taken aback. "What?"
"We put everything on the S.H.I.E.L.D. databases, but we haven't told Fury about it, and Fury hasn't got around to looking at it yet. We get to decide as a team how we're going to handle this."
"How are you going to handle it?" Tony asked. He was probably realizing that if he wanted to have a say in the matter he had better start being a lot more polite.
"Well, from what it sounds like, the mythical world definitely impacts ours, but the demigods do everything they can to protect the civilians. We're going to want to be updated on any threats, such as Kronos, we're going to want a better idea on how dangerous demigods are, and we're going to want to talk to a few gods." Coulson said. He glanced at Alyssa a few times, well aware that he had better be careful what he said considering there was a demigod present.
"Most of those sound reasonable, but you have to understand that the gods aren't exactly charitable, especially towards mortals. I would get involved as little as possible, and I definitely wouldn't try to talk to any more gods." Alyssa said, crossing her arms.
Coulson, Tony, and most of the agents looked at her.
"What do you mean?" Coulson asked.
"You've read the old stories, right?" Alyssa asked.
"I've read as many as I could after finding out that you're a demigod," Coulson said. Tony nodded.
"Then you know what the gods are like." Alyssa wondered how to phrase what she wanted to say without offending any gods who might be listening. She couldn't exactly say They're selfish, extremely powerful bastards who only care about themselves and won't hesitate to incinerate you.
"They're, uh, not really the forgiving or merciful type. They don't care about mortals. They won't view you as deserving of respect and information. And you really, really don't want to get on their bad side. We're talking massive tsunamis and hurricanes, deadly thunderstorms, uncurable plagues, loads of people dying at once for no reason, huge earthquakes, entire cities put to sleep, all crops dying, worldwide wars, the list goes on and on. Not to mention the horrible monsters they can summon, and the punishments they can inflict on individual mortals. Artemis released the Calydonian Boar when a king didn't sacrifice to her. Poseidon sent the sea monster Cetus to ravage Ethiopia because of one woman's pride. Athena turned Arachne into a spider when she boasted that she was better at weaving than the goddess herself. Demeter caused the death of all crops and livestock when she was mad at Zeus. These aren't beings to be taken lightly. Apollo talked to me today, and he wasn't sure if the other gods knew that I'm here. But when they do find out, you'd better tread lightly."
All of the agents and even Tony were silent for a few moments. Alyssa didn't think that she had told them anything they didn't already know, but she felt like they deserved to know what they were dealing with.
"So they're just as powerful as they are in the myths?" Steve asked from the back of the room.
"In the stories, and yes. If not more powerful. I'm not even sure they know the full extent of what they can do."
Coulson looked anxious. Alyssa guessed he was frightened at the idea of all-powerful gods that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have a hope of fighting.
"What if a god goes rogue or something and starts hurting civilians?" Coulson asked.
Alyssa gave him a sympathetic look. "You'd better hope another god gets involved."
"Anyway," Tony interrupted, "the point I'm trying to make is that S.H.I.E.L.D. can be hacked into, and it's only a matter of time before someone other than me does. And there is a tiny possibility that they could find the stuff about Alyssa. That tiny possibility turns into an eventuality if Fury finds out because Fury will try to build weapons or index all the demigods or something. The public finding out about this could be catastrophic."
Coulson didn't look surprised, but he did look a little upset, like he was quite aware of everything Tony had said and wasn't sure what to do about it. "Alyssa, what do you think the gods would do if the public found out?"
Alyssa considered it for a few seconds. "I'm not sure, but I'm guessing they'd own up to it, do something to prove that they're powerful and should be feared, start incinerating anyone who openly doubts them, and demand the same treatment that they got in ancient times. Burnt offerings, sacrifices, the like."
"Huh. At least it wouldn't be that bad." Tony said.
Alyssa laughed. "It would completely change your way of life - a massive and probably unwelcome change. But it's not the gods I'm worried about. They can take care of themselves. And they would probably be more concerned about protecting demigods. No, I'm worried about you mortals."
Coulson frowned. "Why?"
"Remember how I told you about the Mist? The magical force that stops mortals from seeing monsters and demigods and stuff?" Alyssa asked.
"It was never really explained," Coulson said.
"Right. Well, it's hard to explain, but your mind can't really comprehend monsters and stuff. Any explanation is easier to accept than the truth. Like, if a Titan and his army fight demigods in Manhattan, and someone assumes it's gang activity, you see it as gang activity. After all, what else could it be? Or if there's a massive mythical monster causing destruction on its way to New York while gods fight it, it looks like a hurricane since that's the most logical solution. Demigods aren't actually immune to it. We just know that gods and monsters exist, so our brains can see things for what they are easier. In the olden days, mortals could see monsters because they accepted them as real. If mortals today are exposed to the mythical world, they'll also be able to see them." Alyssa looked at the room expectantly.
The brown-haired agent understood almost immediately. "In the myths- sorry, stories, mortals were attacked by monsters all the time."
Alyssa nodded. "Yes, that would happen again. For whatever reason, monsters don't really attack mortals anymore. But if mortals knew about the mythical world, monsters would probably attack them. And mortals wouldn't be able to fight back unless they had celestial bronze weapons."
Coulson looked a little pale. "And these monsters are everywhere?"
"Yes. And there's like, thousands of them," Alyssa said. Then she paused. "Oh, I should probably tell you, it's quite likely that monsters will attack you if they know that you can see them. If you see something strange that could be a monster, ignore it."
Tony gulped. "Good to know. Anyway, letting the public find out about monsters is a big no-no?"
"Yes," Alyssa responded.
~/~/~
Coulson's mind was whirling.
The gods were so powerful that S.H.I.E.L.D. had no hope of fighting them. Demigods were extremely powerful and would be protected by their invincible parents. Monsters were everywhere, insanely dangerous, and would attack civilians if the civilians knew about them.
And wars between monsters and demigods were a thing, and when they happened the world was at stake. The gods basically held the fate of humanity in their hands, and they barely cared about humanity.
He had thought that they were hopelessly outmatched when it came to aliens, but they were even more outmatched when it came to what was already on Earth. And there was nothing S.H.I.E.L.D. could do about it. Not only that, but anything they did would put the world at risk because if the public found out about the mythical world, the results would be world-changing and catastrophic.
He knew it might be bad to tell Fury about this, but he was insanely out of his depth here and Fury would know what to do.
And it was imperative that Alyssa stayed in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. She was their only source of information on this, and they needed all the information they could get.
"We're going to need to tell Fury about this," he said. Everyone looked at him.
Alyssa eyed him suspiciously. "That would be very bad, remember?"
Coulson was quick to defend his mentor and friend. "He does what needs to get done. His job is to handle threats that the public shouldn't know about, and he does his job very well. If he knows that it's of the utmost importance that the public doesn't know about this, the public won't know."
"He'll only cause more problems," Stark said. "He'll try to make demigod-killing and god-restraining weapons. He'll kidnap more demigods to get more information. He'll put his nose where it doesn't belong, and upset the gods."
"He'll do what it takes to keep the public safe! We're dealing with a massive threat here, and doing something questionable is better than doing nothing," Coulson said.
"Keep telling yourself that, but all it does is make it easier for you to sleep at night," Stark snapped, stepping closer to Coulson.
Coulson also took a step closer, glaring. "We at S.H.I.E.L.D. do things that make it difficult for us to sleep at night so the public can sleep safely."
"Guys, cool it. Arguing isn't helping anyone," May said, annoyed.
"Fine," Stark said, stepping away from Coulson. "But seriously, think about this. Alyssa, back me up here?" He looked at Alyssa.
Coulson was annoyed. It was very inconvenient that the person in the room with all of the information concerning this was also a demigod herself, who would do anything to protect other demigods and wasn't overly concerned with the safety of the mortals.
"Telling Fury would definitely be a bad move. I don't know him, but it sounds like he would do anything to keep the public safe. Which is a problem, because the best thing for you guys to do is nothing. I'm sorry, but you have no control over this. You can't fight monsters, and you have no control over what the gods do. Building weapons meant for demigods and gods would be a huge mistake. The gods would not be happy. Remember what happens when the gods aren't happy?" Alyssa said. "You're lucky I'm a daughter of Apollo. There are a lot of gods that would incinerate you for kidnapping their kid. Don't push your luck. Doing anything that threatens half-bloods means that their parents will probably get involved. Doing anything that threatens the gods means you're as good as dead."
Coulson crossed his arms. He didn't want to let on how anxious he was, but he figured his agents were picking up on it.
A situation where S.H.I.E.L.D. was hopelessly outmatched with zero control over what happens and the best thing to do was to do nothing was basically his worst nightmare.
He knew that Fury didn't always make the best choices, but he did what it took to guarantee the safety of the people. Fury had to know about this. And maybe Alyssa could convince Fury not to do anything drastic, like pissing off the Olympians.
"Fury's a smart man," Coulson said. "He knows that angering the gods would be a really bad move."
"Does he?" Stark asked.
"He will. Come on Stark, think about it. You don't even know how many threats the world has faced because Fury has done such a good job of handling them," Coulson responded, keeping his voice even.
"I know that this is exactly the sort of thing that Fury will mess up horribly because all of his instincts that say 'Get information, build weapons, get the situation under control' are the wrong ones. I admire the man, but he won't be able to shed any light on the situation that you can't. The best thing to do is to make sure as few people know as possible!" Stark exclaimed.
"Which Fury can do," Coulson insisted. He turned to his agents. May, Daisy, Natasha... how many of these people might be hurt by a monster because of him? He had to make sure he was doing everything in his power to protect all mortals. "Call Fury."
"No!" Stark growled.
Jemma went over to the computer that connected to the TV in the front of the room.
The TV turned on. The words 'Calling Director Fury' popped up on the blue background.
Coulson didn't know if he was making the right decision, but he had to go with his gut.
His gut said do whatever it takes to protect the world.
~/~/~
Hey! I had a lot of free time this weekend and basically wrote this in two days. What do you think? I actually planned for this to go a completely different direction, but this is what came out. When authors say stuff like 'it just happened' or 'that character wanted to do blah blah blah' I always thought they were exaggerating, but nope! Turns out authors don't have as much control as you'd think they do. Anyway, the character motivations were complicated and I hope I got them right. At first, I had planned on having S.H.I.E.L.D. be more helpful, but then I realized: This is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s worst nightmare. They have no control over the mythical world, and they're faced with gods they have no hope of defeating. The best thing they can do is nothing, which S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't good at. I tried to show this through Coulson. I love Coulson as a character, seriously, but I feel like his first instinct would be to contact Fury. He's way out of his depth, and he knows it.
I still need to know if you guys prefer longer chapters every two weeks or so, or shorter chapters every week or so. I usually try to update as often as possible, and I try to make my chapters at least 2,000 words, but I can make them longer if you want.
Thanks so much for reading, it means a lot!