Steve

Steve missed when life was simple. No aliens, no gods. Just him, his buddies and bunch of bad guys that he could just point and shoot at. Tony was the first to shake off the reverie the story of their incredible lineage had created.

"So being the kid of a god is what made you so good at fighting?" He asked. Percy shook his head as he responded.

"I have better reflexes, I'm faster, stronger more resilient than mortals because of my godly heritage. My combat skills were born out of survival. I trained and fought for my life, for years and years. Believe me, when you're forced to fight for your life everyday, you get pretty good at it." Bruce was next.

"Let me get this straight. You and Nico are cousins. You're descended from Greek gods, not aliens but gods, and you kill monsters. And you have powers." Nico shrugged.

"That about sums it up."

"Can you show us?" Tony was like a little kid in a candy store, practically bouncing out of his seat with excitement. Percy shook his head.

"Nico and I are both first and foremost swordsmen, we use our powers to enhance our combat skills, not the other way around. Nico can, and does use his powers more than I do, but only because his are less destructive than mine tend to be. Both of our powers are drawn directly from our godly parent's domain and are dangerous on a good day, and on a bad day either one of us could destroy the city, if not the state." Nico piped up from his seat, dark eyes hard.

"We are not circus monkeys for your amusement Stark." His glower was enough to shut up the energetic inventor. Steve wondered if he could learn to do that. Would come in handy when Tony got irritating.

"Who are your godly parents?" Clint wanted to know.

"Son of Hades," Nico said before jerking his head towards Percy. 'Son of Poseidon." Natasha clarified for the mystified Stark.

"Gods of Death and the Sea right?" Nico shook his head.

"Close. My dad is the god of the Underworld. Thanatos is death."

"Oh." Natasha sat back. 'Death is a person?" She asked faintly. Percy shook his head.

"No. Death is death. Thanatos is just the personification of it. He's not a bad dude actually. Fair, kinda strict. Very black and white. But not bad guy for an immortal." Clint blanched.

"You met him?" Clint asked. Percy shrugged.

"I rescued him last year. That's why I was in Alaska." Steve finally spoke up.

"So your rap sheet is true then?" Percy shook his head.

"No. Most of it is not my fault. Usually monsters blew stuff up. I just killed the monsters that caused the problems. Then mortal authorities blamed the damage on me." He said. Tony picked up the file, flicking through the list of accusations.

"St. Louis Arch?"

"Chimera. Oh and Echidna. I didn't kill them though." Percy frowned like he was annoyed.

"Merryweather Prep?"

"Laeistrygonian giants. Umm, think fireproof cannibalistic Canadians." Steve frowned.

"Saratoga battlefield cannon and the school bus?" Percy snorted.

"Ok, that one was me. But to be fair, how was I supposed to know that those cannons still worked? And Billy Thompson, the class bully shoved me into it, I wasn't trying to set it off." Nico waved his hand.

"So you see, most of Percy's rap sheet is irrelevant. He was defending people, not hurting them." Percy looked at his cousin, an odd expression crossing his face. Steve rubbed the bridge of his nose. The demigods were a lot to take in. Then Nico gave his cousin a devious smile. Steve's chest tightened.

"Well, except for the Mt. St. Helens thing." Nico grinned as Percy choked.

"That was an accident!" The older teen protested. 'And the second time wasn't technically my fault!" Steve was confused. Thor looked amused. The other Avengers were shocked.

"Percy." Tony asked slowly. 'Did you blow up a mountain?" Percy scowled at his cousin.

"I didn't mean too! The telekhines were throwing lava at me and I panicked. I was like fourteen!" He protested. Steve's eyes widened as he caught on. The newest Avenger had caused a volcano to erupt. He swallowed hard. Percy wasn't kidding when he'd said that their powers were destructive. He was glad the teenagers shut down Stark's request for a demonstration. Steve let out a quiet groan as he rubbed his forehead tiredly.

He missed when it was just fighting Nazis. Point, shoot, win, lose. Good guys and bad guys. It was so much simpler. Tony was laughing and Steve felt his chest seize slightly. The billionaire really did not need any bright ideas; especially since Steve didn't plan on having a heart attack anytime soon. Although, now that he was learning how danger prone Percy's life was...

"Kid that's awesome!" Nico snorted.

"I know. Everyone thought he'd died. And just when camp had given up on finding a body, this idiot walks into his own funeral." Percy rolled his eyes at the memory. Steve felt slightly faint. They discussed near death experiences as easily as they might have talked about a funny movie. Like it was no big deal, or a common occurrence.

"And the second time?" Banner prodded.

"Well the first explosion kinda woke up the monster Typhon, and weakened his prison. Which was under the volcano. So when he escaped, it blew up again." Percy said weakly. He looked like a kid who had gotten caught sneaking out, instead of unleashing a mythical monster.

"If a monster that has to be trapped under a mountain had gotten loose two years ago, how the hell did nobody notice?" Tony asked.

"Language." Steve said distractedly. Percy and Nico exchanged tired glances.

"It's complicated. You mortals did notice. Remember that insane storm system that tore up the American midwest last year?" Nico asked. Most of the Avengers nodded. Clint understood first, his jaw dropping.

"That was one Greek monster? That you fought?" He asked horrified. The two demigods nodded, strangely synchronized. Steve felt sick.

"Most of them aren't that bad. And the gods fought Typhon, not us." Percy rushed to reassure the increasingly pale adults. Thor snorted. Nico glared at the thunder god.

"Well, and I came up with the plan to get rid of him, but overall we did very little work regarding Typhon. We were busy fighting other things." Percy added as an afterthought. Natasha hardly waited a moment before jumping in with rapid fire questions.

"But why did we see Typhon as a storm system? Why don't we see the monsters? How hasn't SHIELD noticed them as a threat before? What other kinds of threats are out there that we don't even know about?" Natasha asked. Nico shrugged.

"Mortals can't see through the Mist, which is this veil that separates our worlds, unless they're clear sighted or if a demigod or god removes its' influence. It hides or distorts your Sight into something the mortal mind understands. Typhon becomes a storm system, cannibal giants with flaming cannonballs become juvenile delinquents with an attitude problem blowing up the school gym, and a hellhound the size of a tank looks like a poodle. The Mist is the mythological world's damage control. Besides mortals don't have the best eyesight anyways, most of them would rather be fooled than accept the terrifying truth. It's why SHIELD never noticed the monsters, and you don't see people panicking in the street. Most of the time they're handled by demigods before they cause too many problems. Besides, they aren't usually a threat to mortals anyway. Monsters will ignore mortals most of the time; you guys just aren't important enough to be attacked. Just like how most of our weapons won't harm mortals."

"Hey! We're plenty important!" Tony snapped. Both teens ignored him.

"We tend to work in groups of three. It's the safest number. Anymore than that the chances of someone in the group dying tend to reach one hundred percent probability; even with three demigods die all the time. We try not to send more than three out at a time, unless we need an army. But by then shit's already hit the fan and the world is ending, so we don't worry about it so much." Percy continued, as though they'd never been interrupted.

"Army?" Steve asked faintly. He'd noticed a few odd things about Percy, the way he moved, held himself. Even the way the kid talked had screamed soldier. But these guys were just kids, so Steve had just dismissed it as another one of the Baby Avenger's peculiarities. What could two teenagers know of war? Percy, Nico and Thor exchanged a few glances. Percy shook his head slightly, but after the other two stared him down he slouched in his seat.

"Tell them." Thor prompted. Percy shook his head immediately. Nico looked at his cousin with disapproval.

"Percy, we're going to have to tell them eventually. Especially with the newest prophecy..." Percy shook his head again.

"We shouldn't involve them. They'll just get killed." Thor was on his feet, looking hard at Percy, who was staring at the table in front of them.

"Telling them the past won't affect the prophecy. It's just gives them the right information to defend themselves." Nico insisted. Steve was curious now. Thor leaned forward.

"There has been a new prophecy issued Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God. You must tell them." He growled, slamming his fist into the table. The table creaked, a small crack running through the wood. Percy snarled back at the god.

"No! They shouldn't be involved, it's not safe for mortals. They'll die! I will not let mortals die for a godly cause!" Percy slapped his hand on the table. Tony snorted.

"We defended the planet from an alien invasion with a team of six. We're not so easy to kill. Or scare off." Tony boasted. Nico stood up, the fifteen year old kid radiating dark power. The temperature of the room dropped several degrees. Steve subtly scooted away from the kid and Tony shut up very quickly. The younger demigod turned his harsh gaze onto Percy.

"Percy. We're just going to introduce ourselves." Nico said to his subdued and flushing cousin.

"Names have power Death Boy." Percy snapped back. Nico replied with a smack to the back of his cousin's head. Percy scowled and slumped lower in his chair. Tony was watching open mouthed. Nico glared at him coldly. That glare was deadly. Steve absently thought even Fury would be afraid of such a glare.

"Sit down mortal." Tony sat. Nico took a deep breath before continuing. As he spoke, his tone changed; grew deeper or richer. Steve could practically taste the power rolling off the kid.

"I am Nico Di' Angelo, Son of Hades, god of Wealth and the Underworld. Veteran of the Second Olympian War, the Second Demigod Civil War and the Second Gigantomachy. The Ghost King. Prince of the Underworld and Savior of Olympus." Then the kid gave each of the Avenger's a dead eyed stare. Steve decided that he was really glad Nico was one of the good guys.

"You have no idea what you're up against and if you want to live through this next mythological cluster-" Percy cleared his throat loudly and Nico glared at his cousin. The he turned back to face the Avengers.

"I suggest you trust Percy; the greatest demigod of this age." Nico and Thor both turned and glared at Percy. Finally the kid sighed and stood up. He looked up at the rumbling ceiling.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll do it Uncle." Percy took a deep breath then looked away from everyone in the room, focused on some faraway point outside. As he spoke, even as his also changed to bring a wellspring of power, some thing about Percy's recitation was more flat. More bitter.

"I am Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon; Lord of the Sea, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of horses. Former Praetor of the Twelfth legion of Rome. General of the Greek demigods. Veteran of the Second Olympian war, Second Gigantomachy and the Second Demigod Civil war. The Lightning Bringer. Former Bearer of the Curse of Achilles. Prophecy child. Bearer of the Twelfth Legion's Standard. Eye of Nekhbet. Conqueror of Gaea. Destroyer of Giants. Slayer of Titans. Hero and Champion of Olympus."

The room was silent at the end of the recitation. Tony let out a low whistle. Nico glanced over at his cousin, a mild expression on his face.

"You know you're supposed to list it all, right?" Percy snorted. The Avengers exchanged startled glances. All that and he skipped some of it?

"It's a mouthful Nico. If I listed my every accomplishment we'd be here all night. Yours is the same way little cousin. Between the two of us I think we've probably fought, killed or pissed off just about every monster or deity in at least four pantheons." Steve's jaw dropped as he finished processing Percy's introduction. The kid had fought in three wars in his eighteen years of life. No wonder the kid woke everyone screaming every other night. Percy stood up abruptly.

"If you're going to tell them the rest, I don't need to hear it." The teen left the room. Everyone was quiet.

"Well that was an... impressive resume..." Steve muttered. He missed when all he had to do was fight Nazis.