Hi!
To Dedon53: I hope it's soon enough! It's going to get pretty interesting soon!
To Gold December: Thank you! I'll do my best.
To Rachet-Reader-Writer: THANKS! But don't worry- the PJO/HoO gang is going to get into some pretty intense stuff! It's going to get more and more interesting as time goes.
To AgentAW: Thank you! I hope I don't disappoint!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO, Avengers of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D- that all belongs to the genius of Rick Riordan and Marvel creators respectively.
Triskelion…
Fury frowned.
"Any details on the team we sent out to the Lotus Hotel?" Maria shook her head.
"None whatsoever," she said grimly. Fury scowled. "Send a backup strike team. In fact, I'm pretty sure we had backup on standby, just waiting for things to get ugly." Why hadn't Coulson and his team return from the hotel? They should've left by now, especially since asking a few questions about guest records and underage kids. Shouldn't take too long. Unless…
Unless they ran into whoever was behind this mess. He looked up at Agent Hill. "What're the Avengers up to? Any news about Jackson and his friends?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." Maria placed some files on his desk. Fury picked them up, his scowl deepening. Whatever was here, he just knew it was not bound to be good.
"Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace and Piper McLean. It looks like they were in JFK International Airport, arriving from a flight from Dublin, Ireland."
"Ireland?" He was bewildered. "What the hell were they doing there?"
"I don't know, sir." Maria admitted, reluctantly. "But they weren't alone."
"What?!"
"They brought someone else." She pulled the first photograph away from the second. A picture of a hooded man with golden blond hair (as always, those pictures were damnably blurry, but at least, this one not so much) was seen. And Percy Jackson was standing right next to him, and Jason Grace. The two girls, Piper McLean and Annabeth Chase were not far behind.
"They went to Ireland," he repeated, slowly. "Yup. Not three days ago." She handed another picture. "But they didn't have someone when they arrived at JFK International, then."
"Huh." Fury leaned back. "Looks like Jackson and his team have a new friend." He looked up at Maria Hill. "Any more news?"
"Well, the Avengers are currently having a party," she said dryly. "In Stark Tower." Fury's scowl reappeared. He sat up. "I thought I told them to lay low." He grumbled. Stark.
"Well, isn't that what TonyStark normally does?" Maria pointed out. "Throw a party? With a couple of movie stars in tow?"
A terrible, sinking feeling descended on Fury, and he resisted the urge to groan and bury his face into his hands. "Who'd they invite?"
"Oh, not much." Maria shrugged, sarcastically. "Just Tristan McLean and Jane McEwan, Beryl Grace's old friend."
Fury wanted to slam his head onto his desk.
In Stark Tower, Manhattan…
The chink of glasses resounded as toasts were made and people enjoyed their champagne and cocktails, nibbling daintily on canapés.
Tristan McLean grinned, but looked somewhat nervous. The Hollywood hunk was in the same room as Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, the Hulk and Hawkeye.
He remembered what he once said to Piper: 'If I really believed in Ghost Country, or animal spirits, or Greek gods… I don't think I can sleep at night. I'd always be looking for somebody to blame.'
And as it turned out the Norse gods existed… And aliens. And dubious government organisations. And superheroes.
Suddenly he wished the world was much, much smaller. And that Piper was a little girl again, and they were walking hand-in-hand, barefoot on the beach.
Instead, Piper was a growing lady with a blond boyfriend toting her along (it was a real struggle for Tristan not to throw up or pass out the minute he heard Piper had found a boyfriend) and while she once begged him to stay home, or to let her stay with him, now it seemed… She didn't care. She had a life of her own.
And Tristan wasn't a part of it.
That hurt worse than anything. He wished, countless times, more than anything, he could turn back the clock and go back to baby Piper, hug her to bits and never let her go. He wished that he had turned away Jane, his damned former assistant, and kept Piper at home, home-schooled her, kept her under close guard. Instead, whilst trying to protect her, he pushed her away. Now when he put up a suggestion like, 'Why don't we go surfing later, today?' and 'Do you want to order pizza tonight?' Piper would stare at him blankly, like she forgot those things existed, and that he would often suggest or like these things, before mumbling either an affirmative, or she was busy with something.
That hurt. Tristan was so caught up with his thoughts, he failed to notice Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, make his way towards him. "Mr. McLean- man of the moment!" He cheered.
Tristan blinked as Tony Stark clapped him on the back. "An honour to meet you, Mr. Stark."
Iron Man- not in his suit- waved his hand, carelessly. "Please, call me Tony."
"Tony," another hand clamped on Tony Stark's shoulder. Tristan looked up with wide eyes to see Captain America. "Good evening, Mr. McLean. I'm Steve Rogers." He offered his hand.
Tristan McLean- the famous movie star- took his hand hesitantly. The captain had a firm grip, but it didn't feel crushing in the least.
Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, gave a smile. "It's nice to meet you,"
"Likewise," Tristan found himself saying. "It's an honour to be here tonight."
Just then another guest came forwards. Tristan recognised her: Jane McEwan, actress. They'd never actually met or worked together before, but he knew her face from her TV shows and films.
And from Hollywood gossip. He made it a point to check the tabloids every morning for anything on his private life, including his daughter Piper. It was always a good sign when they missed things out about his personal life, including her. But Jane McEwan was there a few times- though very rarely. She was one of the few actors in Hollywood that had managed to stay in a lasting relationship- she'd been married to her husband since 1989. They'd had three kids. Now those kids were grown, and if the magazines' photographs were right, the family had a happy, close relationship. No problems, nothing. Tristan's heart squeezed at the thought.
He looked away. "Ms. McEwan." He heard Captain America greet him. Really, Tristan? He wanted to scold himself. Here he was, meeting real superheroes- the world's best, as a matter of fact- and he all he could do was mope.
Besides, it was his fault. His fault he drove his precious, only daughter away.
Wonder what Cristal would do if she could see me now, he thought grimly. Piper's mother had left a note, one morning, when their daughter was just a baby. She had gotten away from a rather nasty family, she'd said. Dysfunctional, to say the least. And she feared at every turn, they'd catch up to her.
She was the greatest love of Tristan's life. No, she was his true love. His one and only, and if only he'd had her for the rest of his life, if only he'd had the guts to propose…
But you don't have any guts, he told himself. Otherwise, you would be able to handle a world full of gods and monsters. Instead, you're thankful Thor isn't here, and you shoved your own daughter away. You listened to Jane.
But I didn't mean to, he argued with himself. I was trying to protect her.
And look how well that ended, he thought grimly. Cristal had left a note, saying that she needed to leave their baby with him, in case her family came for her. She was seriously afraid for him and Piper. She begged him to tell their baby that her mother loved her, and that she was only doing this because she loved them. She said she knew Tristan would make a great father, the very best, she'd insisted. If only she knew how wrong she was.
He didn't realised he'd zoned out by the time another man, came up and was chatting idly with Jane.
"Oh, my apologies," he extended his hand. "Bruce Banner, pleased to meet you."
"Tristan McLean," he gave a forced smile as he took the man's hand. "But you probably knew that," he laughed awkwardly. "Err… Are you by any chance…?"
"The green guy?" He laughed even more awkwardly than him. Bruce Banner ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I guess, that would be me."
"Oh." He wasn't usually a blushing fool (only around Cristal), but now Tristan was embarrassed. "Sorry about-" he tried to apologise.
Bruce Banner shrugged. "It's okay. I get that a lot." He looked at Tristan with interest. "So, you're Tristan McLean. The famous movie star."
"Yeah," Tristan laughed. "That would be me."
"I saw you in that James Bond movie," he murmured thoughtfully. "Playing a Syrian terrorist. And then again, in King of Sparta, playing, well, a Spartan king. But I heard that you're Cherokee. Why is it that you never play any Native American role?"
Tristan shrugged helplessly. "Well, I guess, they're a little too close to home. I just wanted something that would challenge me."
"Okay," Bruce nodded as he took a sip. He looked around the place. "Crazy huh? Tony sure loves his parties." He chuckled.
Tristan waved a careless hand. "Oh, think nothing of it. I've seen crazier. I've been to crazier."
"Yeah," Bruce said, eying him curiously. "I'm sure you have. I'm sorry, but you don't seem like the type that would delve into the lifestyle of a crazy star- sorry, didn't mean to offend you or anything."
"It's okay," Tristan assured him. "To be honest, I've never really liked the insanity of Hollywood culture. I'm more of a quiet kind-of-guy. I like the simple stuff: chilling out at the beach for a surf, having some black-bean soup with my daughter- used to make that for her when she got sick…" He trailed off.
Bruce Banner was eying him even more curiously. "You have a daughter."
Tristan's mouth went dry. He wanted to slap himself. "Yeah."
Bruce shrugged. "Oh, that's cool. So, how'd you balance fatherhood with Hollywood?"
Tristan hesitated, then shrugged. "Truthfully? I don't. I'm very bad at it. I used to be there for my girl, every time she got sick, or when kids teased her in school, then I hit the big-timeand I got a taste of the Hollywood insanity- and I knew it was bad news for Piper. I couldn't bring her into that, she was sweet, innocent, and I couldn't just tell her that this was the kind of life she had to live from now on- make the friends who I think she should make, live in the goldfish bowl, get buttered up by people who just want to take advantage of her instead of being friendly or helpful. So, I did something I really regretted: sent her off to boarding school." He shook his head. "Worst idea I ever had in my life."
Why was he telling this guy all this? He'd only just met him. You'd think that a professional movie star like Tristan McLean would've known better, but he figured, now that this guy was newly-famous (despite being a superhero), needed some tips. After all, who knows? Were superheroes fathers?
Is such a thing possible? He wondered.
"Ah," Bruce nodded sagely. "I'm sorry to hear about that. How is she now?"
"She's fine. Last I heard she had a boyfriend," Tristan grunted. "She barely has any time left for me. Once I insisted on taking her to boarding school and she begged me to let her stay. Now she's the one who wants to be sent away. We hardly ever see each other anymore."
Bruce winced. Then they both saw Tony and Ms. McEwan coming their way. They were chatting happily.
"Which boarding school did you send your daughter too?" He asked. "I have a few kids- might be a good idea to send them away, until the craziness goes down."
Tristan shrugged. "Or not. I'm living with more regrets than I can count." He sighed. "If you must know, though, it's in Long Island."
"Long Island?" Bruce sounded surprised. "Here, in New York?"
"Yeah. And it's not a school- it's a summer camp. Which is weird, 'cause they take a lot of kids, even when it's not summer." He sipped his drink.
Bruce looked surprised. "Right. And she met her boyfriend at this camp."
Tristan snorted. "Yeah." He shook his head. "Ah well, at least she's happy."
"Right." But unbeknownst to the movie star, Dr. Bruce Banner, otherwise known as the Incredible Hulk, was absorbing all this in silent astonishment.
Piper McLean… A summer camp… Here in Long Island, New York….
He would have to tell Fury.
"So, let me get this straight," Fury said slowly. "Tristan McLean's daughter, Piper, goes to a summer camp, in Long Island, New York. She has a boyfriend."
"Correct," Bruce replied in the affirmative.
"What about Jane McEwan," Natasha interjected, quite curious. "What did she say about Beryl Grace and her kids?"
"Well," Tony sighed. "Keep in mind, these are Hollywood stars and they're used to having the press grind them for info on their love lives- and their kids. They've learned to keep a tight lid on things."
"Not so much Tristan McLean," Bruce argued. "I think he's pretty unhappy about his relationship with his daughter. He admitted he regretted sending his kid away to boarding school-" "Good," Tony muttered, almost venomously. "And that she no longer has any time or interests for him. As a matter of fact, he mentioned that she no longer wanted to see him anymore. And that she has a boyfriend."
Fury leaned forwards on the last one. "Grace?" He asked dangerously.
"Could be," Bruce conceded. He looked at the director curiously. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, she has been seen with Jason Grace a number of times," he admitted, leaning back on his chair. "It could be him." He looked at the others. "What did Jane McEwan say about Beryl Grace and her relationship with her kids? I'm assuming you brought that topic up?"
Tony scratched his head. "Yeah. She said she always meant to keep a close relationship with her kids, and that she's started several organisations meant to keep foster children happy and to give them support once they've left. Pepper asked how she managed to raise three kids amidst Hollywood's craziness, and she mentioned something about keeping them grounded and having a good family life- and that one of her friends didn't do just that, and next thing they knew, both her children went missing while she was probably out partying." He grimaced. "I assume that's Beryl Grace."
"So she's had no contact with the Grace children ever since their disappearance?" Fury asked, point-blanc.
Tony shook his head. "Doesn't look like it."
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D sighed heavily. Subtlety wasn't Tony's strong suit to put it mildly. But nevertheless, he had to applaud him for what he had done.
"Did she say anything about Beryl Grace, apart from what you've told me?" Tony shook his head.
"Fine. Well, we have one lead. I think the most logical course of action is to look into all the summer camps in Long Island."
Heraklion, Crete….
The golden-haired man sat his hands grasping the ancient scroll in front of him.
Studying it intently, he put it aside and rose on the balcony, gazing at the Cretan sky and the sea below. Power was in his movements, in his lean and sculpted muscle, he had never allowed himself to go fat, and a sinuous grace like a predator was visible about him. He radiated an aura of strength, power and fear, golden-haired like Northern Greeks, even at his own era, chiselled features, one eye dark blue, like a midsummer storm, the other pale blue like a cloudless sky. You could not doubt that in his day he had been a warrior without equal, a man of immeasurable power.
Where was that power today? He could laugh. Poison? Or drink? He scoffed.
"Darling?" His smile appeared genuine now at the voice.
"Love," he greeted, smiling a smile that sent maidens to swooning with joy and delight and young boys to wetting themselves.
The girl walked forwards. More beautiful than Helen herself, she gave a mischievous smile and glided, wearing nothing more than a dressing gown made of silk, over a pink and white silk negligée that mysteriously concealed and yet flattered her heartbreaking figure at the same time.
She glided over and stood by his side, taking his offered hand.
"You've been up for many nights," she remarked, matter-of-factly. He murmured an affirmative.
"Our next mission?" She asked. His two-toned eyes- always so captivating- darkened.
He was silent for a moment. "Tell me, Aglaia." He demanded. "You intend to go to America?"
"No." His eyes narrowed.
"You are waiting for them to come here." His voice was flat.
"Yes," she admitted. Aglaia turned to him. Her green eyes, more beautiful than emeralds, darkened, but had a shine of power to them.
Where was this woman in my mortal life? He wondered. Aloud he said, "You should have been born two millennia earlier."
She scoffed. "And where would I be then?"
He suddenly pulled her closer to him. "A queen," he whispered. "A queen of the world."
She pulled away from him. "Still a conqueror and ruler at heart, my love?" Aglaia raised a delicate eyebrow. She had power, fire and water at once, and what the ancients called 'kharis' (which gave the English their word 'charisma') oozed out of her every pore. He grinned.
"I do not back down," she warned, her voice soft, but with a dangerous undercurrent. Her eyes glowed. "Even to kings." He sighed.
"Who said I wanted you to bow?" He smirked. "You're much to delicious for that." She turned away with a grimace.
"How vain, without merit, is the name," she sighed, quoting Homer. He grinned. Aglaia looked at him. "I would have been one… Of many. You would have locked me in a gilded palace, worse than the one in Athens."
"Your parents still don't know about your activities?" He arched an eyebrow. Aglaia fell silent. She felt guilt about deceiving her father, mother and brothers that way. Him, having grown up in such a place of intrigue, never had any qualms about keeping things from his parents, particularly when it came to achieving what needed to be done. He was ruthless that way, and there was some part that still did the same.
She just stood there, gazing at the night sky and horizon. He sighed. "How long before the Olympians find us out?" He mused. "The things they would do…"
"Do you still feel reverence," her green eyes flashed as she turned towards him. "Honour forthem?" They flashed even more. Her delicate hand gripped the railing.
"I prayed to them when I was a boy and a youth," he reminded. "And then again, when I was out there, on campaign, bitter dust in my mouth, my men dropping like flies from the amount of stones in their sandals from the sand."
"And they answered," she said mockingly and turned away again. Aglaia glowered. We're two halves of a whole, he marvelled. She was so like him, during his mortal days, and yet so different.
"You had the whole world at your feet," she murmured, emerald eyes dark. "The warrior instinct of your father, the passion of mythology your mother shared to you, and the philosophy of your tutor- the most brilliant mind of the age, I might add- and countless armies, phalanxes at your disposal, along with the companion cavalry." He grinned.
"You should have conquered the world with me," he reminded. "I would have laid the world at the feet of a worthier conqueror."
She rolled her eyes at him. "You had no desire to inherit anything which offered you softness, pleasures and luxuries. You wanted a life of wars, struggles and unrelenting ambition."
He made a face. "Did you, by any chance, get that from Plutarch?"
Aglaia laughed. "Love," her eyes smouldered with a powerful light as she looked at him. She looked him in the eye. They grasped hands. "They will come for me. And I will make them what they need to be. They need me. Soon, it will be my turn to show the world."
The golden-haired, immortal deity smirked. "I will be ready, but I will not wait long. I have been taught patience, Aglaia, but I've dealt with waiting more than enough.
"Especially where you, my love, are concerned." He turned away this time.
"I will be waiting with our forces," he said, putting his authoritative voice on. "I will order the commandoes to begin initiating our troops. In the meantime, wait if you must, but you'd better stay here, in Crete. Your Irish friend-" his mouth twisted slightly at the word. Normally he would've adored this boy. "Will come sooner rather than later. This will give us long enough time to get started."
In Heraklion, a fleet of ships lay ready, waiting. The Greek Hellenic Navy owned some of them, but even now, his power was unquestioned. He had been lying in wait for millennia. Enough was enough.
JFK International Airport, New York…
Alex gave Percy, Jason, Annabeth and Piper the evil eye.
In truth, he'd lied. He did have five tickets to New York, but only to fool them. He had never intended to jump on board that plane and fly for Camp Half-Blood.
But then those bas****s had arrived in Dublin Airport and started chasing them. What happened next? Well, they attacked, a fight broke out. Security got called, and the Mist had been manipulated to make the mortals think they were terrorists or something of that kind. He had fought them off, his new 'friends' read his intentions and forced him on board by doing stupid like running back after him. He ended up on the plane bound for New York.
Damn, that was a hard pill to swallow.
Alex settled for scowling and glaring out the wing mirror to check for any pursuers.
He asked: "Is this the normal route to your camp?"
"Huh?" Percy eyed him from where he was behind the wheel.
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.
"I'm asking if this is the route everybody normally takes when they want to go to your camp."
"Well," Jason gazed uncertainly at the other four. "What other roads are there?"
Alex wanted to face-palm.
"Look," he said calmly. "Monsters after us… And S.H.I.E.L.D this time. Mortal. Very mortal. Also in possession of CCTV cameras, and judging from what happened with New York-" Percy almost winced. "Definitely aware and on the lookout for the supernatural. Take the same route, and I'm amazed if they haven't caught any of you yet."
Piper stared at him. "Why? Did you notice anything different?"
"Only a few speed cameras on the way from the airport to Long Island," he pointed out. "And CCTV. Think they might be trailing us?"
The four demigods looked uneasy, but they couldn't say this right now.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
Piper and Annabeth glanced at each other. "I think…" Annabeth began hesitantly. "That you might be right." She took a deep breath and turned to Percy. "Percy… I think we should've taken a different route."
"What?!" Percy stared through the rear-view mirror. "We're too far ahead to turn back now!"
"Well keep a look-out," Alex suggested. "In case-" he froze.
"Er- What?"
"Incoming," Alex said abruptly. "Three on the left, two on the right, tailing right behind us, possibly- judging by the way they attacked- leading us into an ambush." He cursed in Irish.
Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek.
"Camp's not far," she tried to put in a reassuring word. "We just need to make it to the borders- the shield will repel them-"
Alex stared at her. "Did you not hear what I said? They're leading us into an ambush!"
Annabeth glared at him. "How do you know that?"
Alex cursed again. "We don't have much time, but judging by the way they're picking up speed, their friends- or owners- are still a distance away. They just need to chase us into the trap." He glared at Percy. "Hand me the wheel!"
"Whoa, dude," Percy began. "You sure?"
"I'm certain," Alex hissed. Was it Percy's imagination or were his blue eyes flaming sparks?
"Guy!" Piper yelled. "It's hellhounds!"
Sure enough there they were, growling with menacing eyes like lava from the pits of hell, fur darker than night and foaming rabidly around the mouth.
Hellhounds indeed. "Demon dogs, eh?" Alex muttered grimly as Percy struggled out of his seat. He moved himself firmly in place. "Now you've got a few seconds to tell me where this camp is, and I'm going to do a diversion. Buckle up," he added as he gave the steering wheel a jerk.
The van gave a deafening screech, wheeling sharply and nearly overturning. The hellhounds yowled and barrelled out of the way to avoid a collision, but Alex didn't stop there. He spurred the accelerator, charging the van forwards, and driving like a maniac.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Annabeth screeched. "Camp is that way!"
"So's the ambush," he answered, not breaking concentration.
"And the shield that repels monsters!"
"Which we will never reach in time." Alex gave a short glance at the wing mirror. The five hellhounds had been joined by another, even bigger buddy and a humanoid figure next to the creature.
"And there they are," he said grimly, barely a second before he gave another sharp turn.
The hellhounds chasing them, tried to stop in time, but they had a hard time keeping up with the van. Still, Alex knew he couldn't outrun them on this. These were monsters. He doubted he had that long. "Brace yourselves," he shouted.
"The Hephaestus Cabin won't be happy if they have to repair another car," Jason mumbled. "Chiron said-"
But Alex didn't have time to find out what Chiron said or would've said. He charged straight for the humanoid figure.
The figure- which turned out to be an Empousa- gave a hiss and brandished a rather-nasty looking whip. It sparked with flames, and Alex grinned. He had driven so fast, and now-
He swerved to the side again.
The demon-lady ended up taking out two of her hellhounds. They exploded into monster dust with a yelp while Alex grinned.
She screeched with rage, eyes glowing with menace. Shouting at the remaining hellhounds- including the big one- she pointed at the van. "GET THEM!"
The charged, howling and yipping.
"Not fast enough," Alex grunted as he spurred the car onto a different direction.
"I need you to open the window." He shouted.
"What?"
"Just do it!" Piper leaned over and with great difficulty, managed to open one. "Excellent."
The vehicle slowed and the hellhounds caught up but not before the van gave another sharp turn. At that moment, Percy only had time to catch a flash of bronze within his sight, as it flew out of the back window. He barely saw Alex move at all, but he did make out a the two of the hellhounds exploding with a yelp as the bronze dart found its target.
"Two down, two to go," Alex murmured. "Three if you want to include the crazy snake-b***h.
"Do you have any long-range weapons."
"None of us are that good with long-range," Jason shouted through the wind. "So, no."
"Damn," Alex ground his teeth. "That just makes things harder. We don't have that much time. She may have called for reinforcements."
Percy knew he was right. Still, it didn't mean he had to like Alex's crazy survival driving, as he charged straight for a tree- or so it seemed.
He swerved at the last minute and slammed into the remaining hellhound which flew several feet into the air, yelping as it crashed into its yowling friend.
Alex pulled the van to a stop. He dove out of the car die-hard style, and there was a flash of metal as he rolled straight for the Empousa, leaping up just as she swung her whip towards him. He side-stepped and slashed. The Empousa screamed. Her arm lay on the ground, crumbling into yellow dust and blowing away with the wind.
She growled. Her eyes glowed red as lava. Alex smiled. Annabeth blinked. Alex had ripped out the whip from the Empousa's hand, and it looked like he had used it to rip her arm off. She gasped.
"Did you see-" Piper choked.
"Yeah," Annabeth managed to gasp out. "Yeah. He did."
Alex had seriously injured a higher-level monster.
The empousa shrieked with rage. Her remaining arm drew a sharp scimitar and charged towards Alex. He side-stepped, grabbed her by the arm faster than the eye could follow, and shoved her into the ground. Grabbing the whip, he looped it around her neck, twisted it and pulled.
Her ruby eyes bugged. She thrashed, her limbs kicked and flailed. Her talons dug into the ground, she bucked and flapped uselessly, and Alex held on tight.
Finally, her eyes dimmed and blurred and Alex pulled back her neck with a sickening snap. She was dead.
In the meantime, the other four had taken care of the remaining, injured hellhounds. The Empousa's form crumbled into yellow dust and blew as if under a fan. Alex allowed his released his grip and the whip dropped to the ground.
He shakily stood. The other four, he didn't need to see, were staring at him.
Alex drew his gun and in a flash shot down something behind him. A clacking sound followed the dropping of metal. He looked at them. "Cameras." He said trying to keep his voice even. He strode over to examine it.
"These aren't regular CCTV cameras." He told them. "They look high-tech, and not some cheap rip-off either." He grabbed them. "Best to examine them, later. Right now, we've got to move. I think S.H.I.E.L.D knows that you're here."
As if their day couldn't get any better already. By the time they went back into the van and drove off, S.H.I.E.L.D's agents had barely gotten a signal.
Fury's remaining eye wanted nothing more than to close. He was so damn tired and sick of this.
Phil Coulson and his team had not returned from Vegas, and neither did the back-up team they sent after them. He scowled.
Sitting up on his swivel-chair, Fury withheld a growl as he summoned Agent Hill.
"Sir?" She asked as soon as she came in. "Find Coulson and his team," he ground out. "And send the strike team for them. They've been gone for far too long."
Maria Hill's eyes brightened in alarm for the fraction of the second, before she uttered an affirmative and backed out. Fury tried to restrain his temper. If Phil Coulson managed to get himself killed… For good this time…
"Who are these kids?" He muttered aloud. "That casino…"
He should contact the agents in New York too- see what they found out from trailing Percy Jackson.
Camp Half-Blood…
The van ground to a halt in front of the Big House.
Alex kept his head low. He could feel the others staring at him.
"Did you… Did you see that?" Percy began hesitantly. "He took out the hellhounds, and the Empousa-"
"I know, I saw it too," Jason muttered. "I don't think many of us, Greek or Roman, could do what he's done without a fair amount of training, and even then… I'm not sure they'd succeed."
"He has super-fast reflexes," Percy admitted slowly.
To put it frankly, Alex McDermott was the greatest fighter without training he had ever seen. He voiced this to Jason who agreed.
And he hadn't even been trained… Or at least that's what they thought. Percy remembered Meg McCaffrey who'd shown up in Camp and sliced nets and an arrow with seemingly no training, all to defend her karpoi- or fruit demon friend.
Then it turned out that Meg had been kidnapped and trained by the evil god-emperor Nero.
Remembering that particular episode made Percy's wariness increase. Can we trust him? He wondered. But Alex had saved all their lives- more than once. Including when mortals were after them. Which reminded him…
"Who were the mortals after us?" He spoke aloud.
Alex shrugged. "Who knows? S.H.I.E.L.D perhaps. Or a terrorist group like HYDRA."
"HYDRA- like the many-headed snake monster?" Percy stared blankly.
"No- the terrorist organisation. They call themselves HYDRA because, according to them, when you cut off one head, two more grow back. They're just like that."
"Great," Jason mumbled. "Or it could be-" Alex's demeanour darkened considerably. "Them."
"Who?" Percy asked. But Alex had clenched his hands into fists so tightly and he was grinding his jaw. "Let's…" He tried to take several deep breaths. "Not talk about them. We have other matters to think about."
Annabeth viewed him with scepticism.
"PLEASE?" He bit out. Piper looked at her. She sighed. "Fine."
She looked at the other three. "He's hiding something."
Percy stared at her. "Aren't we all?" He asked. "You weren't exactly open about your past when we were twelve- and we just met him."
"You have a good point," Annabeth admitted, almost sheepishly. She was blushing slightly, which made her look even cuter in Percy's opinion.
"Guys," Jason said slowly. "Normally I would encourage you to be cautious. But this guy… He saved our lives, he was willing to listen to our story. He might be hiding some things," he paused. "But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't trust him. Right now, I don't think he trusts us."
"Why not?" Percy hated the fact that he sounded petulant.
Jason shrugged. "Probably because he knows someone else sent us to get him."
Piper nodded. "He's right. But why come here if he doesn't trust us."
Percy frowned. "Maybe he wants to give us the benefit of the doubt?"
Maybe, either way the five of them headed for the Big House.
"Interesting summer camp," Alex said dryly. But he didn't sound too impressed. "The view's definitely beautiful, the nature too, I can promise that much."
They were standing at the porch. Luckily, Mr. D wasn't there, and they were waiting for Chiron.
Alex had risen an eyebrow when he saw a decapitated leopard head that was technically still living. But he didn't act too weirded out. His blue eyes were scanning everything, analysing and sharp.
"Ah, Percy, Annabeth, Jason and Piper- you've returned." Chiron rolled in on his wheelchair. "And you must be…?"
"Alex," Alex answered, extending a hand to shake. "Alex McDermott."
Chiron took his hand. He then studied Alex's face and frowned. Then he froze.
"Sir?" Percy asked, hesitantly.
Chiron shook it off. "Nothing, my boy. Though I could've sworn you seemed familiar somehow." He looked back at Alex. "So, you're from Ireland."
Alex inclined his head. His Irish accent was somewhat noticeable, though it wasn't so strong. "Yes."
"Strange, we rarely get demigods from outside of North America these days," Chiron frowned.
"Did you ever look?" Alex sounded like he had spat out those words. Everyone turned to him, startled. "My apologies." He gave a smile, but it looked like he had tasted something foul.
"Ah," Chiron gave a quick glance at the four Heroes of Olympus. "I assume you've told him about-"
"Yeah," Percy said. "And he believed us."
"Did he?" Chiron gave an interested glance at the newcomer. "Interesting."
"Because it's so much easier and so much more convenient to believe that myths are only myths?" Alex arched an eyebrow. "And yet, not two months ago, a team of superheroes, including a Norse god, stopped New York from being invaded."
"So he has a point." Chiron nodded gravely. "I should also add that Thor and Loki have nothing to do with us."
"Oh, I know that." Alex said dryly. He nodded towards the four. "These guys have told me about the Greek- and Roman- gods. How they have different aspects."
Chiron winced. "Yes. And I assume that you must have been confused."
"Somewhat," Alex confessed. "But I adapt pretty easily." His eyes grew haunted and dark. "In this world, you either adapt, or you die. That's pretty much everything I've learned in my life."
Chiron narrowed his eyes towards him. "Your life. And pray, young one, what was your life before this? In Ireland?"
"I wasn't always in Ireland," Alex corrected. "I was accepted pretty early on- in my late teens- into the Irish Defence Forces. My mentor and later, adopted father, put in a good word for me. Then I ended up in the Special Operations division."
Chiron sat very still. "Interesting," he managed. "And where is your adopted father now?"
"Dead." Alex said flatly before any of the four could say anything. "Died years ago. Raid in Kabul, Afghanistan."
"Ah," Chiron winced. "I'm so terribly sorry about that, my young friend. But if I may ask," he looked up at him. "How old are you?"
"He's one year younger than us," Annabeth interjected. "He's 1994."
"A few months older than me," Jason stated. He still found it hard to believe. How long did this guy last?
"And your mortal parent," Chiron narrowed his eyes. "They didn't say anything?"
Alex gave a harsh laugh. He couldn't help it. He just laughed. It was a hard, mocking laugh, not pleasant at all. "I never knew my biological father," he stated bluntly as they winced. "By the way my mother talked about it, he was probably at some resort, drinking Piña Colada or a cocktail and fondling some bar-tender or a call-girl."
They cringed at that. But Alex refused to apologise for stating the blunt truth. Now that he knew his father was a god, for sure, he had even less empathy for him, whoever he was.
"As for my mother, she's dead. She's been for years," he continued mercilessly. "Died in prison."
"Prison?" Percy blurted. Subtlety was never his strong suit.
"Yes, prison. She was arrested and found guilty of child abuse and murder," Alex stated, point-blanc. That made them wince even more. "I was apparently one of her victims, but I survived- they found me much later," he taunted.
They winced again. Served them right, Alex thought savagely.
"How… How did you survive?" Piper asked softly. Alex shrugged. "Maybe it's because I learnt to adapt, to be resilient and survive. When you've beaten a dog for so long, eventually, the dog doesn't feel it when you flog them, even if half their skin does come off."
Another wince. Alex felt a savage satisfaction at that. If his father was truly a god, he hoped he was listening.
"Any more questions about my parents?" He asked, deliberately goading them. "Or would you rather prefer to poke in how I managed to survive?"
Chiron winced yet again. "No… That's alright. I am sorry, my boy. I should never have brought it up."
"You wouldn't have needed to," Alex pointed out. "If you'd all have been more observant." He snapped. His dark blue eyes narrowed. There was a hardness, despite the handsomeness of his face, in the chiselled bone structure that looked razor-sharp, like blades. A growing hunger in those dark blue eyes. It struck Percy that he had seen that look before. In Nico di Angelo, in Thalia Grace and in Luke Castellan and Ethan Nakamura. All of whom had been tempted by Kronos and/or bore a strong resentment towards the gods.
Annabeth must have seen it too, judging by the way she flinched. As if she was seeing the ghosts of the long-dead past.
"I take it you hardly venture out of North America," he said slowly and dangerously. "If at all. I take it the other camp's the same." He said, shooting a look at Jason.
Jason sighed. "We're trying," he beseeched him. Not that it did much good. Alex's eyes narrowed even more. "It's kinda hard to operate-"
"Because the centre of the world is apparently here." Alex rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I forgot about that. Of course, you Americans have every reason to forget the rest of the world exists. Now that the heart of Western Civilisation is here," he taunted. His sapphire eyes glared at them.
"You know nothing of the real world." He sneered. "Kids die all the time. And sometimes, the ones they love are the ones who betray them."
At that Annabeth snapped. "We know about that too," she argued. "We've experienced our fair share of betrayals."
"Yeah, we saved the world- twice." Percy put in.
"That may be," Alex said icily. "But it doesn't explain why you ignored so many children even after they died." His eyes glowed.
"There were a lot of children," he said even more dangerously, stepping closer to them. "And so many of them died, I doubt we'd be able to count them all. If your job was to find and protect these kids, I have to be frank, maybe you did a great job here in North America. But everywhere else, you did a shoddy job and countless kids paid the price. They're all dead, and not very peacefully." He spat.
The silence struck them louder than thunder.
"Where were they?" A voice suddenly asked. Nico di Angelo had appeared. He was staring hard at Alex.
Alex didn't look too surprised to see him there. "A lot of places. I was only one survivor. I doubt you'd find anymore, so don't bother." His voice was bitter.
Chiron suddenly looked over thousands of years old- which he was. He buried his face in his hand. "I see." He said, his voice aged too. "Alex," he said softly. "I understand why you are so angry-"
"DO you?" Alex interjected.
"But it doesn't mean that it's too late," Chiron implored, beseechingly up at Alex.
"It probably is for the hundreds," Alex said. "Or maybe thousands." He pretended to think. "I think it's most likely thousands. Thousands of kids dead, abandoned by their parents to a terrible and untimely death, and now you're telling me that my long-dead father is an immortal god on high Olympus?" His voice had increased in deadliness, at least marginally.
"It may be," Chiron tried to put in. "Or maybe just a minor god. After all, children of minor gods tend to have weaker scents than a child of a major Olympian god. It's hard for monsters to sniff them out, but also harder for anyone to find them."
Alex wasn't pacified. "You know what's the worst thing?" He cut in. "That you guys don't even know. Or maybe the gods know but they don't care. Thousands of their own children dead, and we don't even know whether they just dumped them in a peat bog, incinerated them in an oven like in Auschwitz or well… I'll let you draw the conclusions. Their body pieces cut up maybe," he mused. "Or fed to the hellhounds, like the ones we saw on the way here."
Annabeth felt sick. She didn't believe it, she couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe that thousands of demigod children, probably including her own brothers and sisters, had been abused and killed in such horrible ways, their bodies burned like rubbish, dumped in a bog or fed to monsters. All of it without them or the gods knowing. But the barely-concealed rage on Alex's face was undeniable. She knew what happened to Meg McCaffrey. They'd told her.
Alex stepped even closer. "I've seen them," he said flatly. "I've seen them tortured and killed. Some of them as young as pre-school age, if not younger. Very few of them survived.
"Where were you- any of you- when that happened?"
Las Vegas, in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino…
"Damn it," Maria Hill cursed. "Where the heck are they?"
"We've got no info from inside the hotel," one agent said worriedly. "I'm not just the agents we sent in to have a sneak around, but any satellite imagery, or anything. No maps- nothing."
She frowned. "When was this hotel built?"
"I got… Nothing." The agent admitted. Jack Rollins, an agent of STRIKE (the Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies), their counter-terrorist Special Unit, was there was well. He scowled.
"We should go in," he urged. "With a strike force."
Maria herself scowled. "Fury already authorised it, but we don't know where Coulson and his team are, or if they're still alive."
"We can find them," he urged. "We'll scour every room, every closet if we have to. We leave NO TABLES UNTURNED." He said loud and clear- but not too loud. "Do I make myself clear?" He questioned.
"Yes sir," they responded. Out of the vans, the STRIKE teams came, bearing German Shepherds, AK47s, and some high-level weaponry, courtesy of Tony Stark.
They hurried out and around the back of the hotel, around the sides, sweeping in for side entrances. As there were no maps, no records, nothing, this made things much, much harder. Maria came out, wielding a gun and wearing body armour like the others. She suspected that this hotel and casino was illegal.
Silently, she pressed herself against a wall. Agent Rollins looked at her. She nodded to him. He waved his hand forwards. A squad of heavily-armoured agents came in. Another team came. They went to the back of the building. Shooting magnetic grappling hooks, they rose slowly to the roof of the building.
Above the entrance, in neon lights, were the words: You will never want to leave! A group of giggling escort girls waved passer-by in. A bellhop too.
"Hey guys," the bellhop said. "You kids look tired. You want to come in?"
The group of ragged kids looked at one another. They all wore baggy clothes, nothing expensive on them at all, mostly ratty. They didn't look rich. In fact, it looked as if they hadn't washed for days. They appeared to be delinquents.
"Um… We don't have any money." One of them stated.
The bellhop waved his hands. "Nah, that's cool. It's all taken care of."
The kids looked excited. They can't have been college-educated. "Really?" One them asked.
The bellhop laughed. "Here's your Casino debit cards and room keys. Come right in!"
He handed them green plastic cards and they excitedly burst in. Maria's eyes widened. She shared a glance with Jack Rollins. His brow furrowed. Not only was this making their task much harder, it was also very sinister.
Maria had never doubted Phil's ability to survive, him and his team including Grant Ward. But now she began to genuinely fear for him. And for the kids.
She remembered the white limo that was seen in Gila Claw, Arizona, that mysterious biker who kidnapped Percy Jackson and his friends and ushered him at the point of a gun, into the limo, apparently to talk to whatever boss he had in there. Could he… Could they have some base of operations here? Or some-
Jack gave the signal.
The team up above, burst a door open. They signalled. "We're in."
Now was their chance.
Hotel and Casino guests and party-goers screamed as STRIKE Teams appeared from every floor, on every balcony, on the elevator and from every entrance. Glass shattered, causing them to run and duck for cover.
"FREEZE- PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!" Someone shouted.
"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" A STRIKE officer shouted. "Easy there, hold up," what looked like the hotel manager shouted. He came up with his hands in the air.
"Hands behind your head, on the ground- now!" Jack Rollin's voice shouted.
Maria noticed that the hotel guests and casino party-goers didn't look too concerned. To be honest, this was a pretty awesome hotel. Not every hotel and casino had an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, coming from at least forty floors. There was also a climbing wall on one side, an indoor bungee jumping bridge, countless virtual reality stations with laser guns, hundreds of video games with widescreens on them. Everything down to the cheesy Pac-Man.
She was in awe. She couldn't help it.
Then she snapped out of it. How the heck could they afford this? She asked herself. But no wonder the guests didn't seem concerned.
The manager put his hands behind his head. Then in a single flash he pulled them out from behind them and shot something at an agent. Maria only got a flash of metal before the agent crumpled.
"Wha-" she managed before the shooting began.
Shiny metallic things protruded from the ceiling. Maria noticed they were spiders, bronze-coloured, metallic looking spiders erupting from every inch of the ceiling, every outlet, every crack from the doors. They leapt on each of the agents.
Agents yelled, shouted and screamed as the spiders began biting, scratching and stabbing with sharp pincers and pointy-tipped legs, making the guests squeal and even scream. They mostly tried to dodge them, though they didn't have any spiders on them.
Jack Rollins yelled and shot his AK47 several times in the air. Maria was fighting desperately to get the spiders off her. Some agents were down, screaming frantically as the spiders clawed on them. Maria tried to shoot some on the floor, but realised they were outnumbered. She called desperately into her com, but no signal.
She ran for it.
Ran through the guests, amidst shouts of 'Hey!' and 'Watch where you're goin'!' passed people dancing on a mirro, lounging around smooching with girls, people on video games and roulette, gambling machines, cafés and restaurants.
Phil! She thought frantically. "Phil!" She then froze to a halt.
She recognised that girl alright. That was one of Phil Coulson's agents. Sar- no, Skye. Skye was her name.
"Skye." She went over to her. "Skye!" Skye kept on shooting. She was on a virtual reality game, scaling walls with virtual reality helmets and lenses on, a plastic gun in hand. Maria grabbed her by the shoulders. "Skye!"
"Hey!" Skye shouted irritably. "Watch where you're going!" She drew the plastic weapon at Maria and began clicking. Maria rolled her eyes.
"Skye- it's me- Maria- Agent Maria Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D!" She called desperately. "Where's Phil?"
"Wha-" Skye looked and sounded confused.
"Phil- Phil Coulson," Maria pressed. "Grant Ward, Melinda May, Leo Fitz. Jemma Simmons. Where are they?!"
Skye froze. She tilted her head to one side. "Phil Coulson!" Maria shouted. "Melinda May! Grant Ward! Leo Fitz! Jemma Simmons! Your mission! You wanted to join S.H.I.E.L.D- you were in the Rising Tide- and Coulson and Ward offered you information- remember?" She said desperately. "Do you?"
Skye was very, very still. She ripped off her helmet. Wide brown eyes stared in horror and shock at Maria. "Oh my gosh," she stammered. "The mi- I forgot." She paled. "I didn't know. I forgot. I couldn't-"
"Never mind that," Maria interrupted brusquely. "Where's Phil and the others?"
"I-" Skye tried to shake herself out of her state. That was all Maria needed. "Let's go!" They started running.
They found Phil Coulson in a Hawaiian shirt, sipping a cocktail. He was lounging on a deck chair under an artificial sun, apparently having had a nice bungee jump and then diving into the pool. "Phil!" Skye shouted. "Phil!" Maria bellowed.
"Oh- hey guys." Phil beamed. "I just bungee-jumped! Man, I never knew I could make that at my age-'
Maria interrupted him. "Where's Grant?"
"Oh- he's in the slide."
"WOOOHOOOOO!" They glanced up just in time to see Grant Ward in his swimming trunks, zooming down the giant slide and landing with a ginormous splash into the pool. Maria stared.
"Agent Ward!" She shouted. She was really losing her patience.
"Die!" She heard Leo Fitz's voice shouted. "Die, filthy, nasty-"
"Ha! You see that? In your face!" Jemma Simmons cheered.
Maria gestured to them. "Take care of that, will you?" She asked Skye. Skye went over to them.
"Phil." She grabbed him by his shoulders. Grant got out of the pool. "Phil Coulson!"
"Hey, slow down," Phil chuckled. "What's the fuss?"
He said the wrong thing. "What's the fuss?!" Maria screeched. "You entered the Lotus Hotel over three days ago, with your team and you never went out." Phil couldn't hold back his chortles.
Grant chuckled with him.
Maria steamed. "Phil Coulson- you get your a** back on Planet Earth, you hear me?!" She bellowed. "You died- Fury sent you to Tahiti!" She screeched. "You got to a team with Grant Ward, Skye from Rising Tide, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons- also known as Fitz-Simmons!" She shook him again. The dazed, carefree smile on Coulson's face slowly faded. "You were sent to the Lotus Hotel to check on information about Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Nico and Bianca di Angelo and what they were doing here- those were your orders!"
Phil froze in shock. Nearby Grant also froze. Skye had also shaken him and Fitz-Simmons out of their stupor.
Phil ripped off his sunglasses. "Oh my go-" he never finished the sentence. "How- what-" he paled.
Grant Ward paled as well. He stood there, in shock, staring at Maria Hill. "How long have we been here?" Phil whispered.
"Over three days," she replied grimly.
"No- that's impossible- we were here for around an hour!" Grant burst out. "It's May 30th!"
Maria shook her head. "No," she said. "It's June 3rd."
"But that's impossible!" Skye blurted. "We were only here for an hour- look!" She pointed at her watch. "We came in here about six-thirty pm-" she gabbled. "And now it's only seven-"
"Yeah- seven pm on June 3rd!" Maria shot back. "You were in here for three days!"
Phil stared gob-smacked. "We were in here for an hour."
"Hey- you!" Grant grabbed the shoulder of a passer-by. This guy had permed and gelled hair, and wore mustard-yellow bell-bottoms and a red t-shirt with black piping. "What's the date today?"
"Huh?" The kid looked confused for a moment. "April 6th… 1977."
"WHAT?!" Grant drew back. "You can't be serious!"
"Hey man, bad vibes. I got a game going." And with that the guy breezed off.
"Wait- seriously." Grant grabbed his shoulder again. "Hey, what's the big deal man!" he said laughing.
"Your name," Grant managed. "Darrin." He smirked. "Darrin Kyle."
Grant paled. He stared at the others. "And you were born on…?"
"1965- why?"
Grant was positively white. So was Maria.
"Right- we gotta move." He grabbed Darrin by the hand and pulled him out.
"YOU WHAT?!" Fury gaped, speechless like he'd never been in his life.
"We were in there for about an hour," Grant said through gritted teeth. "Or felt like it."
"No- you were in there for three whole days!" Fury shot up from behind his desk. "And you're telling me you've been indoor bungee-jumping, sunbathing and having the whole theme park, casino-slash Universal Studios treatment?" He sounded disbelieving.
"Sir," Maria interrupted. "It's true. We've brought someone else."
She opened a laptop she'd placed on his desk and the footage started playing.
"What's your name?"
"Darrin," the kid from the casino stated. "Darrin Kyle."
"Okay, Darrin. Where're you from?"
"Milwaukee, Wisconsin," came the reply.
"And you were born on…?"
"April 6th 1965." He said slowly. "We went to Vegas for my birthday. Visited my grandparents. Me and my pals snuck out after the party ended. We weren't supposed to-" he looked guilty. "But we wanted to. We took a walk, explored the sights, and saw the casino. They invited us right in."
Fury's eye had widened. "Did you get DNA identification?" He asked, abruptly.
"Already did, sir." Maria replied. "Darrin Kyle went missing on March 6th 1977. His family went nuts trying to find him and his friends- including his cousin. And now, decades after the seventies, he's been found- aged thirteen."
Fury stared. He looked back at the screen.
"His mom's still around." She admitted. "Might as well send a S.H.I.E.L.D team to-" Fury rose a hand.
"So, wait a minute," he interrupted. "This hotel… Freezes people?"
Coulson shook his head. "Sir, we weren't frozen. We stayed there for nearly an hour- it turned out to be three days."
"Yeah, and the STRIKE team came on seven-thirty on June 3rd," Maria said grimly. "We exited on June 5th. Two days later."
Fury gaped. "Is that why I couldn't get a hold of you?"
"Yeah," Grant said slowly. "It must have been." They looked at each other grimly.
Fury was very still. "What happened to the STRIKE Team and the rest of the agents?"
"We pulled them out," Maria said slowly. "Didn't took long- thank God." She heaved a sigh of relief. "Apart from the mechanical spiders' injuries, no one was seriously injured, but the agents that were bitten or scratched- they're in some sort of high. Like a drug haze, only much stronger and we can't seem to find the antidote. They're being treated in the infirmary, but-" she shook her head.
Fury sank back. "The hotel staff?"
"We shot the manager," Maria said, helpfully. "But the STRIKE forces started hallucinating and we had to get them out as quickly as possible- they were seriously feverish. There weren't enough emergency services for them, and we had to get them to the nearest hospital. Even then, it was serious." Fury was unblinking. "Once we pulled them out, we had ordered our team to secure the perimeter, but then when I came back, they turned out to be unconscious and they couldn't remember anything that happened once they woke up."
"And the staff?" Fury demanded, slowly, dangerously. "What happened to them?"
Maria took a deep breath. "We couldn't find the hotel."
"What?!"
"We went back to the hotel," Grant supplied, grimly. "At its exact location. And it had gone."
"That's impossible." Fury bit. "The witnesses-"
"All of whom swore up and down that there had never been a hotel and casino at this site, had never heard of a Lotus Hotel and Casino," Maria continued. "And we checked. There was a construction site. No hotel, no casino, not even a creepy motel. According to the city council, the site had been operating for years- five years to be exact. There had never been a hotel and a casino there, until they started building one, and it hasn't even been finished. They even showed us the official documents." She handed them to Fury.
The director stared at them. "The hotel and casino was in operation during 1941," he said slowly.
"But the city council, the call-girls and escorts, the Vegas Bunny girls, the cab drivers, bellhops and staff of other casinos and hotels don't know it- even the neighbouring ones," Phil said slowly. "As if their minds have been wiped blank."
"Impossible!" Fury slammed the papers onto his desk. "We have the pictures! We have the proof!"
"Well, we can go back there now, only that when we go to the exact site, it's not there." Phil emphasised.
"Our operatives did a sweep of Vegas and it seems we can't find anything," Maria said grimly. "Not even on our maps."
Fury stared at Coulson and Grant. "What do you remember?"
Grant shook his head. "We went in there… Saw the giant waterslide, going round the elevator, coming down from forty floors in the lobby. Saw a bungee-jumping bridge, climbing wall, and a bunch of other cool stuff like restaurants and bars. Lots of video games too. It was pretty amazing, like a theme park and a resort as well as a casino. Looked expensive. Some girls came up-" his eyes bugged.
"Damn," he whispered. "Phil- the flowers."
Phil stared. "What flowers?" Fury asked suspiciously.
"The flowers- the ones that we ate, they offered to us- the lotus blossoms!" Grant blurted. "We ate them and they-" he shook his head. "They must've contaminated them with drugs or something, 'cause they were the best things we've ever tasted. And after that, we couldn't-" he looked helplessly at his superior.
"We couldn't remember anything," Phil finished. "The reason for why we were there. I also smelled lotus blossoms in the lobby- the hotel was perfumed with them."
"They gave you flowers to eat?" Fury questioned.
"Yeah, and they tasted good." Grant said, his brow furrowing. "The best things I've ever had."
"Me too," Phil said softly. "I couldn't remember tasting anything so good. After that, I felt like I was on a sugar rush- I was on high."
"How many did you consume?" Fury was almost afraid of the answer.
"Eight or nine-" Grant frowned. "Though probably more."
"Those waitresses kept popping up with more flowers," Phil confessed. "And I couldn't resist."
"None of us could," Grant pointed.
Fury could only shake his head, aghast.
"We've got trouble." Nico looked grimly as Malcolm popped up out of nowhere.
"It's S.H.I.E.L.D," he said darkly. "They found the Lotus Hotel and Casino. And it seems they've taken an interest in you guys as well."
Yeah, Aglaia appears in here as well- but don't be fooled. She is NOT the same Aglaia (at all) as she is in the Second Trojan War series. Or my other non-PJO story- that's an ENTIRELY different Aglaia altogther- even more than the PJO-Avengers ones. Alex is also far more complex and more of an anti-hero than anything. You really don't know where he- or she- is coming from. Things are going to collide pretty quick, but they're going to be even more complex and interesting- or I'm going to make it that way. The action will be pretty intense- I do love battle scenes, I admit. There will be similarities to the characters in the Second Trojan War series but this is an entirely different storyline, which is far more complex and hopefully less predictable and more interesting.