A/N: Last time I checked, I'm not someone who likes killing off favourite characters (and no, I'll never get over it). Just your regular student here!
Okay, so this one-shot just sort-of came to mind after I read something else, just 'cause.
Summary: Percillia Jackson has had a lot of weird things in her life. But she's plenty certain that a superhero showing up at her house early in the morning takes a bit of the icing.
Percillia Jackson has had a lot of weird things in her life. But she's plenty certain that a superhero showing up at her house early in the morning takes a bit of the icing.
(Not all of the icing though, because how could it, with her life?)
But seriously, she's a twenty-one-year-old adult, and feels honestly happy to be able to adult even if she's practically done it since she was twelve, but whatever. She was now legally an adult: and wasn't that the most wonderful thought to her – admittedly still immature (not exactly immature per se, but leaning more towards the joking side; however, she can't be bothered to sort out her English right now) – mind.
As is the wont with any demigod who has ADHD, she's getting off-track.
Right, superhero showing up at doorstep.
Percy's blissfully sleeping away after a Saturday filled with training, because despite being an adult, she's still a very tasty and edible demigod to monsters, not to mention that as a massively powerful (big words, Perce!) demigoddess daughter of one of the Big Three, she needs to keep her powers harnessed. Also, lack of training can cause a fall in skills, and she's not going to have that.
Again, ADHD.
So. It's six thirty in the morning (she checks the clock), her doorbell rings, and all she can this is who the Hades wakes up at six thirty on a Sunday, much less has the audacity to ring my doorbell and kill my thankfully dreamless sleep?!
But, being the well-mannered lady that she is (cough yeah, right cough), Percy opens the door.
And promptly does a double take.
"What, in my uncles' names, are you doing at my doorstep at six thirty in the morning, dude?" Oh look, Jackson, you've screwed up the minute you opened your mouth! Is that any way to treat a superhero, much less one that just saved New York City from a bunch of aliens? Not to mention, Annie rants about him enough for her to respect the guy.
"I'll admit it's a little creepy," he begins wholly cheerfully, "But a friend and comrade of mine – Thor, you might know of him," well, yes, she does know of him, because of his connection to Magnus Chase, and he also saved NYC, but she doesn't know him, "Has practically sung your praises from here to Antarctica, but he's never specifically stated what you did, and just who you are in the mythological world, so I got curious." Huh. She doesn't know her mythological fame made it off-pantheon, but this means more gods, which is just a horrible experience on its own.
(She's stopped counting how many times Apollo or Aphrodite have teased her, since they practically do it every other day)
He continues, "And Thor's pretty eager to meet you, since apparently common knowledge that you live in New York." What? Yep, definitely someone spying on Apollo or Aphrodite, "But I kinda wanted to know you beforehand, so may I enter?"
"My best friend will probably have my head if she knew I allowed Tony Stark into my house when I'm sleepy and drowsy, but I can easily out-fight you in mid-sleep, so half-awake isn't such a horrible bet if worse comes to worse."
He correctly takes that as a yes. She's far too tired to not ramble.
"Nice house." He compliments; at that she literally gives him a look basically saying "are you that desperate?" Stark certainly seems that desperate if he's willing to compliment an unkempt apartment that has unwashed and sweaty clothes all over the place, not to mention a few books lying around with the occasional fallen kitchen knife.
(So she admits she's not the neatest, or safest, person on Earth, but she's had a busy week – and life, come to think of it – and that none of anyone's business, okay?)
"I get the clothes, I get the books; heck, I even get the horribly untidy apartment, but the kitchen knives?"
She feels defensive. "I practice, you know: it's a childhood habit." Percy informs somewhat tightly.
"Okay, okay, I'll not poke. Anyway, will you be willing to give Thor a birthday surprise?"
"Well, personally, sure. But actually, I gotta check with His Lightning Blasting Majesty,"
It's when she gets a clap of thunder and a hopeless, oh just do it, I don't even care anymore!, that she knows she's won in annoying everything out of the King of Gods.
The ride in his car is quiet, well, not quite quiet, more like Percy is awed by the sheer awesomeness of the car, and wonders how much it must've cost, before reminding herself it's Tony Stark, so obviously it cost a fortune.
"I won't even begin to understand why you consented to coming so quickly and simply." He says in an attempt to start conversation; it isn't futile.
"I'll be honest, I considered hitting you with my frying pan, but my instincts – which I generally listen to, seeing as they bought me out of tight spots," life-threatening situations, "– told me that you were completely harmless in regards to the amazing me," he lets out a snort at that, "So here we are."
"Busy week?"
Clearly, he's judging by the way her apartment was, and he's not wrong, which she informs him of. They relapse into an awkward silence after that, and gods, do I hate awkward silences.
"I had a second cousin once removed, you know." He says out of nowhere. "Name was Sarah, but we called her Sally. Sally Jackson," she gets a significant glance.
Here she is, sitting on the seat: she spews her spit and nearly chokes. In hindsight, it's not the most dignified thing to do, but all she can think is Holy Hera, Tony Stark is my cousin. My cousin!
The general craziness of her family never fails to impress her, maternal or paternal. Maybe her insanity is hereditary, after all. Meh, she'll check later. Now, she's going to wrap her mind around the fact that she's being driven to Avengers Tower by Tony Stark to meet Thor of Asgard, and the bombshell given to her on the drive is that aforementioned Tony Stark is her cousin.
It's frighteningly easy to do, that. Perhaps it's because she's broken out of bloody Tartarus, crashed her own funeral, and fought two wars against scorned, maniacal paternal family members.
Surely a famous cousin isn't too much to take in? Nah, one of her cousins was a tree for five years, another was dead for seventy years, and a third was locked in a time-warping casino for around seventy years. She was not going to count Jason as 'cousin' due to risk of being completely grossed out, because who even calls their fiancé their cousin? Even if he is, but that's beside the point!
"So, Thor will be totally fangirling you." He warns, before his eyes wander to her left hand. "Engaged already, little cousin?"
She gets the unspoken question, because apparently that secret language between her and Mom extends to the whole extended family.
"Jason Grace, don't try finding him on the Internet or through any less-than-legal means because he's practically a ghost since he was four. No records."
7 Months Later
So, if people are gawking at the darn Avengers attending her wedding, she'll just smile and wink at her querido primo, because since that time when he showed up at her doorstep at six thirty in the morning, they've done everything from midnight takeout pizzas (as fellow insomniacs) to two hour long calls in the afternoon bemoaning how Luna Lovegood is so underrated (in their minds) to talking and crying about Sally Jackson's amazingness (yes, that's now a word) because no one else understands.
Thor himself is pretty worked-up, being amongst so many celebrated heroes (and doesn't that boost their ego?), so she takes pity on him and introduces him to Annabeth, in order to get him less overwhelmed, and meet people.
Nat (Ms. Romanoff turned from Natasha to Nat after they become pretty solid friends when it came to being just that frighteningly competent and frightening) gets brownie points for resisting Apollo's constant flirting, and actually high-fiving Artemis for being a fellow scary, badass lady.
(Jason seems to be of the mind that she would quite fit in with them as well.)
Tony is family. And that little piece of her heart that had been missing somewhere after Mom's death in the Giant War fits in together with an audible clink.
A/N: That got terribly mushy towards the end, didn't it? I was originally planning to do a Percy-meets-Thor scene, but I didn't get anything to write, so here you go. And, to the person who asked for more femPercy/Jason, here you have it! Maybe I'll add more one-shots related to this, and technically make it a series, but that idea's on hold for now; you readers can decide that!