HAHAHAHA EARLY UPDATE

okokok so this chapter is dedicated to dauntlessofthesea, who sent me a really amazing review and thank you so much for it. It's also dedicated to Matt, who compared Prophet to Trump and to that one guest who sent me only 1 exclamation mark. No context. Just the !. You know who you are.

Answered questions at the end!

CHAPTER 7

Prophet was having a great day!

Of course, the minor inconvenience of having to reschedule another meeting with his disciples was going to be tedious, however it was well worth it. A smile got caught on his face as he hummed a nameless tune, and his golden eyes closed contently as he flew in the air with his most trusted devotees.

He didn't quite remember the harpy's name, as there were many at his congregations, so one could not expect him to know all his pupils, but the demigod with him had dedicated her life to their cause. She was lovely, a child of Aphrodite he had first thought. But her dark hair and swirling green eyes gave away her heritage; a beloved child of Hecate.

She did have her downfalls occasionally, and he could not find it in his heart to fault her for such troublesome minor situations. He was Prophet, after all, and loved all of his followers immensely, unlike those wretched gods who treat their precious children as if they were last week's newspaper. His tune came out a bit harshly at this, and his disciple looked at him strangely.

"Prophet?" She called over the harsh winds of the harpy's wings, "Are you alright?"

The man in question nodded, keeping quiet a moment longer to preserve the silence they shared together. He looked down at the city lights and spoke quietly, "Do not trouble yourself with my worries, dearest Alba. Focus instead on the prayer for your nights to be short and your days bountiful."

A small grin lit up her face, and her green eyes sparkled up at him. A short nod, and she was curled up in a ball, praying for happiness. Prophet smiled at her devotion, pleased that Alba was dutiful in these ways, before going back to his musings.

That man that was there… He was tall and dark, his eyes as mad as the vexed seas. Prophet sighed as he remembered the furious face, curious about how the stranger would ever be so angry with him, the Great Prophet. Was he doing something wrong with his teachings? Was the follower that exasperated with his sermons that he would grab his cloak and shove him into the sinful ground? No, no, Prophet could not be doing something wrong; he was simply relaying messages given to him from his god.

He must have been angry with himself, yes! Prophet preened at the fact that a follower was so upset that they'd grab him at whatever cost. An upset follower meant more time to share his sermons, more opportunities to help the young man see the light he had strayed from. Those dark eyes at the brink of madness needed saving, Prophet realized, and it was his duty to save every creature under the sun!

A child of the gods, perhaps a mortal, by Tartarus he could've even been a monster. It mattered not, seeing as Prophet did not entirely care of the species of his disciples. He vaguely wondered if the man enjoyed chess; none of the monsters knew the many rules, and not many mortals or demigods really cared about the strategic game. Maybe he could find a time to privately speak with the man? Oh, but however would he find him specifically; if he was a new member, he would not know of their communicative ways! Relying on chance was so unreliable and… too much like the stone-age.

He supposed he could see if a monster with a good sense of tracking could help him in finding the mystery follower. Prophet couldn't help but wonder if he was following the gods, and he yearned jealously at the man, wanting and desiring him to follow the true light.

The harpy beat her wings harshly as they neared a roof, and the wind whipped around Prophet and Alba in such a way that Prophet needed help in order to keep his flowing cloak from flying off of him. The landing wasn't harsh, which pleased both passengers, and both set their feet down lightly on the hard roof. They bowed to the harpy, who gave her respects in return. The harpy flew off, and they were left in silence.

Prophet glanced over at Alba, who was offering a prayer of thanks for their safe travels, and his heart melted a bit at the sight. Her whispers were so soft that he couldn't hear her voice speaking anymore. He wondered...

"Dear Alba," Said demigod lifted her head, carefully listening to the words of Prophet. Prophet said quickly, "What is it that you pray about?"

Alba blushed slightly, embarrassed, in the night, unbeknownst to Prophet, and she ducked her head shyly as she spoke, "I pray about everything, my Prophet."

My Prophet, she said. Prophet smiled at the words, pleased with the title given to him, but tried not to let his joy show too much, "You pray about everything?"

"Yes!" She said excitedly, almost like a child with a new toy, "I pray for the birds to fly and the trees to grow and the light to shine. I pray for the safety of your disciples and the safety of others not knowing the light. And I pray dutifully for your speeches and sermons of the Good News to reach the darkest corners of the Earth!"

"You truly are a devout believer," Prophet grinned, and reached a hand over to brush her hair from her shoulder.

She frowned at the words, "No, my Prophet. I do my best, but you were the one to lead me here, and for that, I thank you greatly for showing me the light."

Truly, a kiss on the forehead did not count as favoritism, yes? Prophet let his lips touch her face briefly before turning away, not looking at her, for surely she would question the strange behavior from her Prophet, "I am glad for your fellowship as well, Miss Alba." He walked away from her, heading for the fire escape perched precariously on the edge of the rooftop. He turned around and smiled, his golden eyes shining like twinkling Christmas lights in the darkness, "Come, my Alba, as we must prepare for the morrow. For sunrise comes a new day, and I wish to spend it in prayer."

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"So, to recap, you almost got beat up by my boss's boyfriend and his superpowered friends by doing something I told you not to do."

Nico winced and took a sip of his coffee, not wanting to look at his boyfriend. Will was undoubtedly pissed at him for going out the night before, and by the way Will was looking at his hurt ear, Nico knew he would hold this over his head for a while. The son of Hades sighed loudly, "Yeah, that's what happened, but I didn't know they were just going to show up! What the Hades were doing out scouting New York? Isn't that Spiderman's job?"

Will raised an unamused eyebrow at the man, "Yes it is his job, but Tony's really angry at whoever shot Peps." He grabbed the pot of freshly made coffee and poured a good portion of it into his travel mug, "I wouldn't be surprised if he and some of the Avengers decided to try and get rid of some of the crime in the area."

Nico grabbed Will's jacket for him and helped him put it on as he fumbled with putting some creamer in his coffee. A frustrated look was on his face, almost pout-like, as he mumbled, "Well I didn't know…"

Will kissed him on his nose, "I know you didn't. Just be more careful. Are you sure they didn't see you? I don't want to have to explain to Mr. Stark why my boyfriend jumped into Captain America's shadow."

"Oh ye of little faith," Nico rolled his eyes at the son of Apollo, "I had my hood up the entire time. They couldn't have seen me. Now you need to get to work. Are you going to Pepper's office or the tower?"

Will took a swig out of the mug before zipping up his jacket, "I'm going to the tower today; hey, maybe I'll see Captain America and I can yell at him for hurting your ear."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

Nico gave a wide grin and laughed. Will was always humorous in the morning, and it seemed as if he had very little filter. Will stood by the door, adjusting his jacket, when Nico gave him a light kiss on his forehead, "If you see Hawkeye, tell him thanks for shooting at me last night."

Will's eyes widened as Nico began leading him out of the door, "Wait, you never said anything about Hawkeye being there!" He fumbled over his words in awe, demanding Nico tell him everything, when Nico shut him up with a kiss on the lips.

"I'll have dinner ready at seven when you get back. Try not to be late, sunshine. I love you."

Will stood flabbergasted as the door was shut in his face, wanting to either kiss his boyfriend for actually seeing his idol or yell at him for not telling him earlier, but he settled for mumbling, "I love you too, deathboy." A laugh echoed behind him, and the son of Apollo turned around in the small hallway to see their neighbor, an elderly woman, chuckling to herself while opening her door.

She waved him off, "Oh, don't mind me Doctor Solace. I just find it very adorable how you two young people bicker so often."

His blush traveled from his face to his ears, and Will could feel his cheeks burn, "Um, we don't fight that often… Right?"

"You fight more than me and my husband do, and we're divorced!" She gave out a crow of laughter, "I've never seen a couple lovingly fight like you two. I'm sure you've had your fair share of little spats."

Will had to agree. Of course play fighting was so often that the banter they shared flowed out easier than he'd like to admit, but the actual fights that they've had were few and far in between, and he was grateful for that. But was it unusual that he and Nico 'fought' often? They were always just messing around. He spoke softly, "Ms. Lierman, couples do bicker often, don't they?"

"Of course they do, Solace, don't get your boxers in a twist." She leaned over and pinched one of his blushing freckled cheeks, "You just do it a bit more often. Now my son, on the other hand? He's never fought with his significant other before. They're always so happy." A far away look came into her eyes, and Will knew he was going to be there a couple more minutes, prompting him to be late for work. It was rude to ignore your neighbor!

"Oh? And How do they act?"

She hummed a bit, thinking back, "Well, they were friends when they were very young. And I'm talking when my little guy was eight. Last I heard of them, they were still happily together in New York somewhere." Mrs. Lierman waved her hand in the air, "Not sure where they're at. Little Amos was never a talkative child, at least not with me. But last time I received a letter, it mentioned he had just gotten an apartment and that he'd visit sometime soon. Isn't that wonderful?"

"That's very nice, Mrs. Lierman!" Will smiled, not really concerned with the time anymore. He turned the coffee mug in his hands, "Does that mean we should bring over a casserole soon for a coming home party?" She gave him a light smack on his waist, making him laugh at her.

She scowled up at him, "Who said I'd let you two contaminate my son?" Will laughed, and she gave a small chuckle, "I let a friend come over one time, and now she's obsessed with that strange game Nico brought over. Mystical whatever or something."

"Mythomagic." Will corrected.

"Whatever," Mrs. Lierman sighed, "If you're on your best behavior, maybe I'll let you step foot in my apartment. In the meantime, don't you have somewhere to be?"

Will's eyes widened as he got out his phone and checked the time. He was going to be late if he didn't run! He gripped his travel mug tightly before running to the stairs, "I'll talk to you after work, Mrs. L! I gotta run!"

He heard her barely contained laughter as he tripped over his own feet at the last two steps before stumbling back up and continuing his run to the nearest taxi cab.

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Will gently touched Pepper's shoulder, mindful of the scars there, and guided it back in small increments. Said woman grunted at the motion and Will offered her a small smile, "You're doing great. Have you been getting Tony to help you do some of these?"

Pepper laid her head down on the table, stiff as a board as Will slowly rolled her shoulder backwards, "Sometimes. Bruce helps more often, though - sorry, Dr. Banner helps."

"Hm, that's nice of them." Will muttered as he watched the way her muscles contracted. Her deltoid was nearly healed, although the scar was done a bit too sloppily for Will's liking. The light orchestral music playing the gym's speakers was great to fill in the awkward lull in conversation as WIll examined the arm more thoroughly.

Pepper twisted her neck around as best she could to look at him as Will rolled his eyes, "So, doc, what's the verdict?"

Will gave a soft chuckle before saying, "Well before I say anything, would it be alright for me to touch the area around the scar? It's raising up quite a bit and it's on a high stress area, which could limit where we go next with the physical therapy."

The CEO nodded as she stilled herself on the bench. Will ran his fingers lightly over the scar as to not irritate it before lightly skimming the area around it. A frown formed on his face as he realized that the scar tissue that was forming was raised and a bright red. He wrinkled his nose at the sight of the pink skin and spoke softly, "Pep, do you feel any pain when I press right… here?" He pressed lightly to the side of the scar, which shouldn't have hurt too terribly due to the pain medication she was on.

Yet, she winced anyway, and sucked in a quick breath before she spoke quickly, "Yeah, yeah it hurts quite a bit."

Great. Just what Will needed; another complication. He vaguely thought back to his mother tracing a surgery scar she had and explaining why the skin was raised and why she needed more surgery to fix it, and it made Will cringe remembering the pain she was in due to the scar on her knee. If Pepper's scar was beginning to become hypertrophic, then it would need immediate treatment to lessen the pain, "Has your scar been itching?"

"A little, but I usually ignore it." Pepper mused. A concerned lilt came to her voice, "Is there something wrong?"

Well, Nico did say that she was high up on the security aspect of the world, meaning no magic or hymns. Time to do this the mortal way, "I'm only concerned that the scar might become hypertrophic. It's no big deal, but it can cause pain and lack of mobility in the shoulder. If I'm right and we caught this early, then there's many treatment options, but I'm hoping that I'm wrong."

Pepper sat up, ignoring the hand Will held out to her, and rubbed the area around her shoulder. Her eyebrows were furrowed in deep concentration, "What is it? What should we do?"

Will rubbed his arm, "Well, hypertrophic scarring is just a build up collagen under the scar, but it contains and pushes on your blood vessels and nerves in the area." He pushed lightly on the area where her shoulder met her neck, and he tried not to flinch as she winced once again. He spoke in calm tones, "It's nothing that can really be prevented, but there's treatment to get rid of it and of the pain. My mom had the same issue with a scar on her knee from climbing a tree with me."

"So what should we do?"

"For now, I'll go see if Dr. Banner or Mr. Stark have some silicon strips in those labs of theirs," Will said, "I'd rather not have someone do surgery, laser, or steroid treatment. We might have to change our physical therapy routine as well…" He trailed off, mumbling to himself as he figured out a new regimen in his head.

Pepper's mind spun; she was just shot almost a month ago, and complications are coming up now? She could only thank her lucky stars that she had a doctor who knew what he was doing, and even though he was young, he seemed to be very experienced. Relief washed over her as she realized that he knew other treatments besides surgery. He flitted out of the room quickly, but doubled back just as fast as he left.

"Well that was quick," She said jokingly.

He laughed and pulled out a familiar sheet of paper from his pocket, "I forgot to congratulate you on a good day!" He picked off a red smiley face from the sheet before putting it gently on her workout tank top, smiling widely. Pepper rolled her eyes at the doctor, who always seemed to have many types of stickers on his person, but the happiness he exuded was enough to put a smile on her face as well.

Will left then, stuffing the stickers back in his pocket as he walked from the gym to the nearest elevator. Although a bit awkward (as it always seemed to be for him), he stepped on it and looked up into the camera stationed there and cleared his throat, "Um, Friday? You there?"

"I always am, Doctor Solace." Came the automated voice. A sigh fell from his mouth and he fidgeted with the end of his t-shirt.

He looked at his feet, "Can you give me directions to the nearest lab? I need some silicon strips. You can alert Banner and Stark about me coming if needed."

"Already on it, Doctor Solace." A button that wasn't pushed by him lit up, and the elevator played soft music as it carried him upward. The high-tech building always took him off-guard; maybe it was a demigod thing or a Will Solace not used to technology thing, but the AI always freaked him out a bit. "When you get off, take the hallway in front of you until you see the glass windows of the lab, and that is the next door you will take."

He nodded and saluted the camera, thanking her for helping, before he got off the elevator and followed her instructions. The hallway was easy to find, but it took quite a long while before he found the glass windows of the lab, and eventually the door came into sight. He walked in to see Banner and Stark leaning over a map with many markings on it. Will cleared his throat, prompting the two to look up, before waving his hand and speaking, "Hello, Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark! I was wondering if you guys had any silicon strips on hand?"

Banner nodded while Tony spoke, "Yeah, there's some back here. C'mon Willy, I'll show you." Will winced at the unfortunate nickname, much to Tony's pleasure and Banner looked at him sympathetically.

"What do you need the strips for?" Banner asked.

Will winced, unsure as to how the billionaire in the room would take the new information, but told them anyway, "Pepper's scarring is becoming hypertrophic. I'd rather her not have to undergo surgery again to fix the issue, and silicon seems to work when ridding scars of excess collagen."

Tony narrowed his eyes a bit, not wanting to take it out on Will, but he was frustrated with the news, "And how long until it's not a hypertrophic scar anymore?"

The doctor shuffled his feet, grabbing the box of strips from Banner as he stuttered out, "It, uh, differs for everyone, actually. My mom had hers for a couple years while a friend at camp had his fixed after a couple of months. It just depends on her physiology and how her body reacts to the silicon." Banner nodded with the explanation, and was a bit surprised about how a 'field medic' knew something about long-term scarring. Usually field or combat medics were taught how to treat injuries that happened then and there; he must've been a smart kid to dedicate himself like this.

"You're very intelligent for such a young field doctor, Will." Banner smiled at him, and saw how Will's blush traveled across his face and to his ears. He stuttered out something like 'Not as good as my father', and Bruce scoffed, "I'm serious, Will. You've got some serious talent, and you shouldn't compare yourself to someone else. It's not psychologically healthy, you should know that."

The blush went away as the words were said to him. Comparing himself to Apollo was the only thing he could use to rate himself, and lately he was doing poorly. His eyes' gaze went to his shoes as he thought about his father, the god that he looked up to the most. Apollo, although he had his downfalls with the excessive haikus and constant 'cool' person, was the greatest healer known to mankind. Maybe he should go easier on himself, but being related to a god kind of gives a kid a bit of an inferiority complex.

He looked up and offered up a weak smile, "Yeah, you're right. Well, I, um, got to take these to Pepper. I'll talk to you guys later." Will hurried off, and Bruce crossed his arms when he left. Tony looked over at him, a bit confused at the reaction.

"What's got you all worked up about this?"

Banner sighed and rubbed his face, mindful of the reading glasses perched there, "Tony, how do you feel when you compare yourself to your dad? You feel bad right? Like he'll always be better than you no matter what?"

Tony bristled, "I'd rather not think of my father."

"What do you think Will is going through?" Banner questioned, "'Not as good as my father'. God, he sounded so heartbroken, Tony. You know how much your anxiety stemmed from your father, and now Will's going through practically the same thing!" He shook his head before returning his gaze to the map and sighing again, "Let's just try and pinpoint where that sermon guy you were talking about is going to pop up next."

Tony knew he should've paid more attention to the small meeting between the two of them about the crazy church guy, but he couldn't help but think about how similar Will and he were. Both of them may have had a grudge against their father or may look up to them, but it was so drastically twisted to the image that the son will never be better than their father. He took one last glance at the bright gold of Will's hair from behind the lab's glass as he walked away, leaving him to force himself to think further on last night's strange congregation.

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Will got back to the gym in record time, especially since he knew where it was located (Nico, on the other hand, gets lost going to the bathroom). He expected Pepper to be sitting on the bench, waiting for him, or maybe up and getting a drink of water and stretching out any sore muscles. What Will didn't expect was another woman in the room speaking with her. He stopped where he stood with his head tilted to the side, the strips and bandages lying in his arms and spilling from his hands.

The redhead speaking with her was wearing a button down blouse and tight pants, not suitable for working out, so she must have been seeking out Pepper instead of just bumping into her. Her hair was brighter than most girls', but he realized it was near the same shade as Rachel's, the resident oracle and art teacher at camp. No freckles though, just smooth porcelain skin and a pouting mouth that spoke in low tones at Pepper, who was smiling at her. So they were friends, he supposed. But the way she held herself, a natural defensive stance that was similar to a blonde married to a certain seaweed brain, made him question her true intentions. Now that he looked closer, he saw a few scars littered on her hands, not unlike the few knife cuts on his own hands (scalpels were hard to use as weapons!). Did she know how to use a knife? Was she a bodyguard? A spy?

He cursed himself for thinking so much about it. The woman was most likely a friend of Pepper's. But Will couldn't help himself for wanting Pepper's safety; she was his patient! Anyone that hurt a recovering patient was going to get mauled by him. He swallowed down a lump in his throat before walking calmly forward, well, as calmly as he could with his hands trying to reach for the knife in his boot. The woman looked over, but Will had a feeling she already knew he was there. A monster, maybe?

Pepper just smiled at him, oblivious to his previous musings, "Will! I'd like you to meet an acquaintance of mine and Tony's. This is Natasha." She lifted her good arm and gestured to the redhead, who was helping Pepper put on her sticker-decorated sling.

Will glanced at Pepper, silently asking if she was okay, but Pepper wasn't a mind reader, so he wasn't sure why he bothered. He gave out a bright smile anyway, keeping his gaze steady with the woman, "I'd shake your hand, miss, but mine are a bit full at the moment!"

Natasha smiled back, and met his stare with one of her own. Will watched the way her irises moved; if she was a monster, she's break eye contact or she's attack him, seeing as prolonged eye contact was a form of aggression and a challenge of dominance. Maybe she was a demigod then? Or maybe he was overreacting, he reminded himself. The woman's voice was light and forceful, "Do you need help with any of that?"

He shook his head, "I know it may be a bit of trouble, but can you help Pepsi take off that sling of hers? I need to re-bandage the scar."

Natasha mouthed the word 'pepsi' under her breath as Pepper raised an eyebrow at him, not perturbed by the nickname he had given her weeks ago, "But I just finished wrapping it! Why do you need to unwrap it; I thought I did a good job." Will chuckled briefly.

"Sorry, but I need to put on the silicon strips to lessen the swelling," He set down the bandages, "I should have told you not to move too much." Pepper said it was alright, and while Will set up his first aid kit he had to admit and appreciate that Natasha helped her out of the sling quickly and and carefully.

He soon busied himself with cutting an appropriate amount of bandaging and silicon to fit her shoulder while Pepper tossed the sling back onto the bench, and he grabbed the silicon before turning back around. Natasha looked at it in confusion, "That isn't going to make her go all Dr. Banner on us, is it?"

"Dr. Banner…?" Will took a moment to decipher what she meant before he realized his radiation problem. His, uh, big radiation problem. He waved his free hand to calm the protective woman, "No, the silicon won't do anything that extensive."

As he applied the strip gently onto Pepper's shoulder, he wagged a finger at her, "Now, because I'm putting this on you and because of this new hypertrophic scarring situation, we're going to need more rules for you."

Pepper groaned while Natasha tilted her head, "How many rules were there before the strip?"

"Too many," Pepper crowed out, "No opening doors with your injured arm, no picking up weights larger than five pounds, diet must be followed perfectly, no-"

"Wait, why the diet?"

Will puffed out his cheek as he smoothed the strip over the scar and applied some gel to it, "I'm not going to have my patient ruin her health dietarily while she tried to recover with limited exercise." They took the information in and he applied the bandage in silence a moment before sighing, "And yes, new rules. You can leave the strip on for however long you like without lasting effects, but you'll need to air it out once in awhile just to let the scar breathe, you know?"

"Sounds easy enough. And with you and Nat hanging around, you guys can help out as well," Will wanted to grimace at the added 'and Nat', but shoved the feeling aside. Why did he feel bad vibes from the woman? "Anything else, William Shakespeare?"

Natasha realized the strange name-calling must've just been a friendly thing as Will snorted at the nickname before sobering, "You need to know that this isn't a cure for the scar, Pepperoni. It-"

"I know it won't get rid of the scar, Solace, that's not how scars work."

He gave out a frustrated sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand and picked up the sling with the other, "Not what I mean, Potts." He motioned for Natasha to help him, and luckily she got the hint and gently grabbed Pepper's elbow to hold her study as he wrapped the cloth around her opposite shoulder. "The scar will hopefully heal on its own and the silicon helps the swelling and pain lessen. What I mean by cure for the scar is that the scar will always be there, but while it's hypertrophic? You're going to be in a bit of pain for a while."

Her face paled slightly and Natasha clipped on the last part of the sling, "Well, that doesn't sound like a lot of fun." Will couldn't help but chuckle at the deadpan expression that stayed on the stranger's face.

"No, I suppose it doesn't." He smiled before taking out his phone and looking at the time, "And we finished right on schedule for you to get dressed for lunch. You never told me what you wanted me to pick up, by the way."

Pepper stretched out her good arm before arching her back, making it pop, "I was thinking of taking a day off of work and ordering some pizza." Natasha seemed to perk up a little bit at the word 'pizza', which didn't go unnoticed by Pepper, "Yes, Nat, you can join us."

A grin flittered over her face, but it seemed to Will to look more like a predatory smirk. He only hoped that she was some sort of odd human. He hated killing monsters in front of confused friends.

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Will sat curled up on the couch, his head fighting to lean itself over onto the armrest next to him, and Pepper watched him struggle to stay awake with a smile on her face.

Natasha had left not too long ago, and Pepper couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she disliked the assassin, it just seemed as if Will was more tense and uncomfortable around her. As soon as the elder woman had eaten a few slices, she was out of the tower, or at least bugging Tony and Bruce. That left her with two boxes of pizza, a movie she was only halfway interested in, and a very tired doctor.

She vaguely wondered if the boy had gotten any sleep the night before, but knew it wouldn't really be right to pry. Besides, with two young adults living together, she might not want to know what had kept him up last night. A soft whistle escaped her friend's mouth, and she realized he had finally given up and fell asleep on the edge of the couch, his neck at a strange angle.

A small tsk rose in the pack of her throat, but she shoved it down in favor of getting of the chair she was seated in and grabbing a blanket. The open, slack mouth of Will and the peacefulness on his sleeping face made all of his stressful wrinkles melt away. She used her good arm and whipped the blanket out in one motion, watching it collapse slowly onto Will, and stood there a moment smoothing the blankets out.

He rolled over, humming a light note as he wrapped himself up in all the blankets. She thought of how annoying that habit must be for Nico. Pepper never really noticed how tan the small adult was, and the expanse of freckles didn't stop on his face, and she smiled as she saw the amount of freckles on his hands that she never noticed before.

A hand reached out before she could stop it, and her fingers found their way into his hair. It was thicker than she originally thought, but the roots weren't dyed like she originally thought; the bright golden blond color was completely natural! And it was very soft as well.

She couldn't stop the warm smile that quickly became stuck on her face, and that warm feeling spread from her head to her toes. There was something nice about Will, be it his smile, attitude, friendly demeanor, that made him extremely approachable and lovable.

Of course, she did notice the awful inferiority case he seemed to have when it came to comparing himself to others. She noticed how whenever he messed up something, he'd apologize profusely for what he had done, even if it was something so small that it didn't even matter. It happened often enough to worry her, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions and possibly hurt the friendship she already had with him.

A murmur left his mouth and a small bead of sweat fell from his forehead. His face twisted up, marring the image of the exhausted happy doctor into one of a child having a nightmare. Pepper sat next to him and ran her hands through his hair and whispering words of encouragement, trying to rid him of the bad dreams.

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He held the child close to his chest, tears streaming down his face, and Will plucked the beads from off the camper's neck and put them on his medic's belt to join an assortment of others. A sob wracked through him as he closed the eyes of the small boy, a son of Hermes who hadn't survived the second wave of attack.

The beads at his side jangled on his belt, a constant reminder of those lost because of him, and he slowly looked up. Will barely realized his body was smaller than normal, his hands not as large as usual, his hair not as long as it should be. Gods, there were just so… many.

Too many monsters, too many soldiers, too many injured. He cast a blessing over the kid's lifeless body before turning to the hill, where more monsters just kept coming. His knife slid easily in his hand as he watched a harpy headed right for him, and his eyes followed the way their wings' tendons stretched. At the last moment he sliced upward, cutting through the wing and hitting a lung in the same stroke. He kept walking to the next child while fighting to keep the tears down.

A daughter of Aphrodite. Not a born fighter, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to help her home. She was younger than the last boy he'd failed with, only about ten and was facing death in the midst of a war she was never meant to see.

The fifteen year old gulped as he saw the blood pooling around her was growing larger, and he pressed his hands on the wound decorating her stomach. A hellhound bite, and a good one at that. He expected her to cry out as he put pressure on the hole in her stomach, but knew that when she didn't so much as register that his hands were there, she was going to die soon, no matter the amount of hymns.

Her eyes swung up lazily to meet his, and a sort of smile came to her face. He ignored the sounds of battle raging around him to give a halfhearted smile back. Kids didn't want tears as they died, they wanted reassurance. He knew that.

"I'm goin' ta see daddy now, right?" Will didn't trust his voice, so he only nodded. She leaned her head back toward the ground a gave out a breathy sigh, a content look on her face, "Good, that's… that's good…." Will was tired of seeing children trying to draw in that last breath to blood filled lungs. He loathed watching the small moment of panic flash before a child's eyes right before that realization set it that this was it, there was no turning back. He couldn't help but long for Nico, who at least helped calm Will down in telling him that he promised they'd be in Elysium, or Rebirth if they wished. But in this nightmare, in this memory, he wasn't there.

As he unhooked the beads from around her neck, a… feeling washed over him. The slick blood-covered beads slipped from his hands as the scene violently changed. Darkness swarmed his vision until the sensation of death was gone, the monsters and dying children gone, and the weight of the beads missing. Instead, a welcomed scene came into view.

Nico sat in the kitchen, making pancakes. Pepper, Tony, and Bruce were at the table laughing and enjoying themselves in the small apartment he and Nico owned. He could hear footsteps in the hall, and turned to see people he didn't know, and people he did.

The most familiar was Hawkeye, the coolest guy ever. Natasha, the new lady, was smiling behind him with a kid on her hip, one that had the same dusty blond hair as the famous archer. Steve Rogers laughed beside them, along with a strange woman in red and a floating alien-looking man. Lats was a large man wearing flannel with hair pulled back into a ponytail, grinning mischievously at the exchange. Two more children similar to Hawkeye followed along with a woman that kissed the archer's cheek lovingly.

Will was confused by the sudden shift in dream, the warmth he felt as Nico snuck up behind him and kissed the back of his neck, making the children squeal as the son of Hades chuckled at their disgust for the sudden PDA.

The Ghost King simply nuzzled the man's hair, "Is it alright if Clint takes Bea to the safehouse? The kids want a play date." Will's eyes just widened at the proposition. Was this a vision? Did they have a… a daughter?

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Pepper kept stroking his hair, humming to herself as his expression slowly changed to one that was near tears to a much happier one. A smile came to her own face as she absentmindedly twirled the locks with her fingers as she watched the television. Instead of sitting back in the chair, she opted for being on the floor next to her doctor.

Eventually, his arm reached out and wrapped around her loosely, a faint smile lightly coming and going from his facial features. She liked it when he was happier, he was her friend after all. They had seemed to almost be getting much closer lately, almost to that of a sibling relationship, or a mom-away-from-mom type of deal (although he seemed to mother her just as much as he mothered him).

A hum escaped her once, and another followed soon after, creating a soft tune for her to follow along to. Will snuggled deeper into her neck, but as soon as she was going to close her eyes, something kept it open.

A light.

Confused, at first she believed it to be Friday alerting her of someone coming into the room, but as she turned around, her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. There, in front of her, was a smiling Will with glowing freckles and hair.

She took a deep breath, watching the light flow from his hair outward, giving off the illusion that not only was his head glowing, but his hair seemed to be longer than it actually was. What the hell…?

He murmured again, reaching out blindly until she rested her hand in his hair again. She was surprised, but the hair wasn't a different temperature than it was a moment ago; it was the same cool soft feeling as before. She ran a finger over a glowing freckle and found the same result.

Pepper needed to tell Tony as soon as possible. This could be some weird disease, or Will could be a spy, or this could be some new metahuman, or, or -

No.

She wasn't going to tell anybody about this. Sure, Pepper decided that she'd talk with Will one on one about it (she was a CEO after all, she knew how to get information she wanted), but it wasn't her secret to share. Another soft childlike smile came to Will's face, and the light spread out a bit farther until it seemed to dance in the air like heatless fire.

Pepper touched one of the rays of light, surprised when her hand fell through the beam as it seemed to be almost solid and tangible, and Will made a sort of grunt noise before shifting on the couch. He grabbed the top of the blanket and curled himself over, burying his hair underneath the covers and nuzzling into the couch. The light didn't go away, and to Pepper, it looked almost like a child with a flashlight was hiding under the covers. She rested a soft hand where the light originated before hearing the soft whistle-like snores from Will become even.

Yes, she'd keep this secret for him. He cared for her, and she wasn't going to break his trust over some simple little power as controlling a bit of light. Her boyfriend was Iron Man, after all. She knew how to keep secrets.

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Question time and then updates on me!

What other fandoms are you in? - I'm a huge superhero buff, so anything of that nature. I very much enjoy Harry Potter and Danny Phantom, and am starting to watch Sherlock!

(For those with other q's, I try to private message if you have an account! I'll answer all guest questions in the story, though).

Update on me I suppose. Well, I went on my first date in about five years and now I'm pretty sure I'm in a relationship. Crazy. I have finals next week, a concert the week after, and graduation all in the same month so wooooooo. Almost done with high school, what a time to be alive.

Hope this chapter met your expectations! Remember to review and ask questions if needed be! (I also love prompts; the reason this story is here is because someone sent me a story prompt and I loved it very very much). See y'all next time!

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