This one's a little shorter than usual. But hey, at least it didn't take me a month ;)

Also, thank you all so much for your reviews! They really make my day ^-^

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Before Percy began, he took out a small blue orb from his pocket and smashed it against the ground. Blue smoke wafted out of its remains. He sighed in relief when he felt Kronos' presence recede from his mind.

"What does that do?" Thalia asked. Percy hated that he couldn't trust her. But she swore she wouldn't put him in a cage, and that was all that mattered to him. Besides, he never knew Thalia to be that great of an actress. The fear and confusion in her eyes were real.

"Kicks Kronos out of my mind," he said. The pure shock in her face made him wince. "It only lasts twenty minutes, I think, so we'll have to be fast."

Thalia went over to the staircase. For a scary second, Percy though she was going to leave. But she just sat down, her back against the railing. "Go on," she urged him. He didn't really want to relive what he'd been through, but with Thalia, he had no choice.

He started to pace. "Annabeth and I were sparring at camp once," he said. "But then..." he cleared his throat. "You really don't want to hear this."

"Tell me, Percy."

"Kronos took control of my body. We were sparring, and I had this sinking feeling, but I ignored it. We sparred, and Kronos took over, and I stabbed her." It was suddenly very hard to swallow. "I stabbed Annabeth."

Thalia turned very, very pale. "But she's fine," she said. "Right?"

"I don't know," Percy said miserably. "I just know she isn't dead."

"No, duh." Thalia rolled her eyes. "If Annie were dead, I would've known." Percy smiled weakly. "So what happened after that?"

"Kronos let go of me, and I passed out." Percy shook his head. "He can't control me for too long. He isn't strong enough for that." Yet. The unspoken word passed between them. "So I passed out and woke up in a cage."

Thalia blinked. "Oh, that's why... Wait, they put you in a cage? Chiron would never do that."

Percy stopped pacing and sat next to her. They watched the sun set between the buildings together. "Yeah, well, I don't know. Anyway, I escaped. I ran away from camp, and I signed up for SHIELD." He sighed. "And then a series of unfortunate events led me here."

She smiled. "Naturally, you ended up with the Avengers, of all people." He smiled back apologetically. "When you were standing next to Perses, were your eyes actually..."

He played with his shoelaces, unable to look at her. "Golden? Yeah. When Kronos possesses me, that happens." He could tell what she was thinking. Just like Luke.

She leaned her head back against the railing. "You thought I came to hunt you down and kill you?"

Percy scoffed. "No. I thought you were going to put me in a cage. Killing me would've been a blessing, if there weren't consequences."

Her head snapped up at that. "You say that like you've tried."

He tactfully remained silent.

"Percy."

"Okay, yeah, maybe I tried." He shrugged. "Seemed logical, if I died, no more problems. But Kronos misguided my hand and..." he shrugged. "Kronos said that when Luke died, Kronos' soul scattered and latched onto the people that were standing nearest to him. That's me and Annabeth. So if I die..."

"Then he'll just move on to Annie." Thalia completed. Then she slapped Percy across the face. Hard. He yelped in surprise. "That was for trying to commit suicide," she informed him, just in case he didn't figure that out. "Don't even think about trying that again."

She cocked her head. "Wait. Where'd you get that orb thing from?"

"Nemesis," he said, his cheek still stinging. If there was one thing he didn't miss, it was Thalia's wrath. "She struck a bargain with me. Said I'll pay the price when the time comes." Thalia buried her face in her hands.

Her voice was slightly muffled. "You are an absolute menace."

"Thals," he said, suddenly serious. She looked up. "You saw how I reacted when I saw you. Did I sound sane to you?"

She winced. "Well—"

"I didn't feel sane," he continued, his voice rough. "Kronos' voice is in my head all the time, and I'm constantly on the run from anyone who knows me. I'm slowly losing my mind, Thals, and damn it, if these orbs are my only way to have even a few minutes of peace before Kronos finds a way to control me completely or I go completely insane, then I'll take it." His eyes were stormy as he gazed into her clear-sky ones. "Whatever the price."

He'd expected her to say a lot of things, about how he disgusted her or how he was already insane. Instead, Thalia shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Percy. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have joined the Hunters and left you to suffer. I— Gods, I'm sorry, Percy." She tried to hide it, but he could see her eyes tearing up.

He flinched at a voice in his head. She's already mourning you. How sweet.

Oh, joy. Welcome back, insanity.

"Thalia, if you didn't join the Hunt, then you would be the one going through all this. No," he said firmly. "It's better this way."

Now it was her turn to stand up and pace. She looked so stressed and worried on his behalf. "Okay, so now what do we do?"

Percy frowned. "We?"

She stopped pacing and put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, we, Kelp Head. How are we going to stop..." she waved her hands vaguely.

Simple. You can't.

Percy stood up as well. "We are not doing anything. You and your hunters are going to leave, you've had a successful hunt and took down a lava monster who turned out to be a titan. You didn't run into anyone you know, certainly not me."

"Fine." Her eyes glittered. It made Percy feel uneasy. She made her way to the stairs. Just before she left, the lieutenant winked back at him. "See you around, Percy."

"No, you won't!" He called after her. Then she was gone.

Blocking me from your mind is not going to stop me, Perseus. I'll keep coming back.

"Yeah," Percy sighed. "I know."

When he got back to the tower, he found the Avengers eating pizza. Without him.

"Hey!" Percy complained when he saw Clint inhale the last slice. Percy pointed at him menacingly. "You're buying me another pizza."

"Sure I will," Clint grinned. "With Tony's money though."

Tony sipped from his drink. "Yeah, fine. If you" — he raised an eyebrow at Percy — "tell us what the hell happened. Seriously, kid, you left us to deal with a dozen angry teenage girls that hated us for no reason whatsoever. That's, like, the first time I've ever been around teens who weren't screaming my name excitedly." He shuddered.

"Did you some good, Tony." Nat said from her perch on a chair. She was always perching on something, as if ready to run at a second's notice.

Steve laughed, "Can't believe the guy who dove into a black hole is scared of a couple of teenage girls."

"They have weapons."

"You have a suit that can shoot lasers." Bruce pointed out. Percy watched him carefully. Did the Avengers only take the Hulk with them in really bad situations? Because it would've been very helpful if he could've just stomped Perses flat.

Tony shrugged. "Teenagers have crazy hormones."

Percy flopped on the couch. "I am right here, you know."

"You're the proof, kid."

Percy scoffed. "Do you people have some obsession with ignoring my name?"

"It would seem so," Clint said gravely. Then he pointed his pizza at Percy. "Now, talk."

"Where's Thor?" Percy asked, hands clammy. This could go very badly. Oddly, the Avengers putting Percy in a cage didn't bother him as much as Thalia doing it.

Tony finished his drink and set the glass down on the counter. "Said he had to go do something. Start explaining, Percy. What the hell happened?"

Percy sighed. This was going to be a long night.

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