Bruce

He leaned forward and clasped his hands together in front of him. Nico and Thor exchanged glances again.

"Son of Hades, you have been there for much of Perseus's tale. You should have the honor of becoming our bard." Thor gestured at the kid. Bruce didn't think he was more than fifteen. Nico nodded slightly, sighing as he started.

"Look, being a demigod is hard. Our parents are powerful and distant and busy. They're also fickle and prone to making poor choices." Thunder rumbled loudly. Everyone looked at Thor.

"Thor cut it out." Tasha reprimanded. The god shook his head. Nico looked at the ceiling.

"You know it's true." Bruce was confused until Thor mouthed Zeus at him. Ah, different god then. The scientist was unsettled by the idea that an honest to God, god had become a reasonable explanation in his life.

"Demigods, being part of both the mortal world and Olympus we are in the unique position of being able to interfere with godly affairs. Essentially we're the clean up crew." Steve looked horrified

"Your parents have you, just to clean up their messes?" Nico shook his head.

"No. In that sense the myths got it right. The gods just kinda run around falling in love, and end up having powerful offspring." Tony broke in at that moment, muttering sarcastically.

"Haven't the gods ever heard of birth control?" Nico smirked at the comment but otherwise ignored it. Thor just looked confused. Thunder rumbled warningly outside the window.

"The gods don't just have kids, but also fight, argue and piss off each other, the minor gods, various monsters, mortals they punish and more. Take a peek at Greek Mythology, it's filled with drama. Unfortunately the consequences of their behavior generally falls onto their mortal children. You can't punish a god. But you can hurt their children. About 80 years ago now, the three most powerful gods; Zeus, Poseidon and Hades were given a prophecy. About one of their children. It foretold the potential downfall of Olympus. This prophecy came right after WWII, which was basically this massive grudge match between the children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side and children of Hades on the other. Their children are too dangerous, are too powerful. Too prone to changing history, changing the balance. So after the war was over, Zeus and Poseidon forced Hades to swear an oath; an oath that the three elder gods, or the big three, wouldn't have anymore half blooded children. They swore it on the River Styx, the most serious promise anyone can make." Steve looked angry. The captain had fought in a war caused by the bickering of a bunch of overpowered demigods. Bruce felt a pang of pity. Then he realized something.

"But you and Percy are both children of those gods." Bruce said quietly. Nico nodded.

"Technically Percy is illegal. My father is the only one who hasn't broken the oath. I was born in 1932. After the war ended and the pact was made, my sister and I were hidden away in this place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino; freezing us in time. We thought it was only weeks, when really it had been over 70 years. Both Zeus and Poseidon broke their oaths. The result being Percy and two demigod children of Zeus and Jupiter. I'll skip over them for now." Steve had brightened when he heard that Nico and him were from the same time period.

"Anyways, long story short, Percy was the child of the prophecy. He saved Olympus and fought the titan Kronos. That was two years ago tomorrow. Our side lost over forty percent of our army, and hundreds of our allies were killed." Bruce felt sick. Two years ago would have made Percy about sixteen. And forty percent? Just how many people had died? Then another horrifying thought occurred to him.

"Who was your army made up of Nico?" Bruce prayed he was wrong.

"Other half bloods, just like us. And some of our allies; the few we had left." The kid answered. "And how old were they?" Bruce forced out. Nico looked at him with pity. Bruce felt his lunch start to rise in his throat. The other Avengers also looked uneasy.

"Percy is one of the oldest living Greek demigods. My cousin has outlived the average life expectancy for our kind by several years now." Nico said gently. Every face paled. Nico took a deep breath. He looked around the table. Bruce didn't want to hear him go on anymore.

"Look, like I said, being a demigod is hard. Especially in today's world. We're secrets living dangerous lives. We attract monsters constantly because of our godly scent. Many die before they reach the age of twelve. Most of us don't even have a chance to learn who and what we really are. Those that do survive make their way to one of our safe havens, where they train in relative safety, and once they're trained get sent out on quests for the gods or for other demigods. The survival rate into adulthood is not high for the Greek demigods." Bruce didn't like the look on Nico's face, it was uncomfortably similar to the one Bruce used to deliver bad news to his patients and their families. Thor nudged Nico.

"Speak of this past year young hero." The god looked grave.

'There's more!' Bruce felt sick. Nico sighed.

"This last year, it happened again. Another prophecy was foretold. This one was about the rise of Gaea and her younger set of progeny. The giants. A few months after our oracle spoke the newest prophecy, Percy went missing. Stolen from us by Hera in a risky gamble to save us all. We were ridiculously lucky we succeeded. We just defeated Gaea and her armies about two weeks ago. We're still fighting what's left of her forces. The final body count isn't even in yet. Our injured are still being treated, and some are still dying." Clint was gripping the table tightly. Bruce felt the Other Guy start to burble forward. He ruthlessly pushes him back as Nico finished.

"In the final battle Percy's girlfriend Annabeth, and one of his friends from the quest to Greece sacrificed themselves so that Percy and the others could kill Gaea. He hasn't forgiven himself yet." The kid stood up. He waved at Thor.

"He can fill in the details. I don't want to discuss the war anymore." Nico followed his cousin out the door. The Avengers turned to the Norse god of thunder.

"Please tell me my imagination is scarier than the truth." Natasha said quietly. Thor solemnly shook his head. Bruce blanched.