Chapter 4

Empousai!

My name is Percy Jackson, son of the great god Poseidon, and I'm more confused than I've ever been before. Percy thought to himself as he crisscrossed the abandoned streets of New York. It was now officially three days since he left, and already he had broken his flimsy resolution to try harder to fix his emotions.

He managed to make it two whole days before his mom coaxed an explanation out of him. She was only concerned, Percy knew, but it was still agonizing to see the fear and sadness on her face while he told of everything that had happened. Paul was away visiting some friends, but was home earlier that afternoon, so Percy gave him a watered down explanation then. So far, he had avoided any breakdowns, and had even managed to keep a less fitful sleep than usual. It was concerning to him though, his usual raging tide of emotions and confusion had fallen into a slum; that is to say, he felt almost nothing. Numb, like he had reconciled himself to the fact that he would never pull himself together, never be the same person. He saw how much he had changed by the way his mom looked at him, well, differently. Like she was constantly pitying him. To him, this was the worst, because he couldn't do anything to console her. He had changed, he was so much older, had seen so much more, had almost died too many times to not have changed.

His lack of purpose ate away at his being until he couldn't take another second. He needed air, he needed to move. So, pulling on a dark sweatshirt, he set out onto the streets and wandered around for a few hours, thinking some spark of inspiration would come to him and snap him out of his detachment. Rounding a corner, he passed a deserted ally and heard a small shuffle come from behind him.

Instinctively, he whipped around and tensed up. He was slightly on edge, it being well past ten and him being so alone. He could take care of himself, that was for sure, but you never knew who you were going to encounter in New York this late at night. It turned out to be a man, similarly clad in a dark sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. Another figure appeared beside him, and from its slender form Percy guessed it was a woman. The man was big and imposing, and very physically fit from the outline Percy could see. What really got his adrenaline going though, was that he carried a long, slender object by his side, but Percy couldn't see what it was. A gun? He questioned instantly.

He couldn't make out much of the woman though, as she was walking behind the man. Ducking his head down, he took longer, swifter strides, trying to reach the next corner, which would take him into a confusing ally of restaurants and shops, which was a lot safer than a dark, narrow side street. Alright, that's enough adventure for one day, he thought nervously.

Then things got even weirder. The pair behind him lengthened their strides too, and quickly came up right behind him. Percy ducked quickly up some stairs like he was heading home, his breath caught in his throat. As the two passed, the man called out quietly, "you shouldn't be out this late, kid," before turning the corner and leaving Percy's eyesight.

Curiosity killed the cat, they say, and after Percy saw what the man was holding, his curiosity skyrocketed. It was a long, slender bow. With purpose, he swung himself off the set of steps he was on and quietly trotted to the corner of the street, slowing when he heard voices. It was the man and a woman, whispering furiously to each other. Cautiously, Percy ducked behind a large potted plant and listened.

"I take the left, you get behind those tables," the woman whispered. "But what if she makes a run for it?" the man countered quickly, taking a glance at the deserted street that lay before them, "if she turns and runs, down that street, we've lost her," he gestured to the opposite street, which was the one full of shops and restaurants.

Now Percy was really scared and intrigued. Grabbing Riptide and praying he wouldn't have to use it, he contemplated what they might be discussing. With the limited but ominous conversation he heard, he couldn't think of a way this would end positively. Suddenly the woman spoke again.

"Shit, here they come now," she said exasperatedly. "Fine, I'll take those buses, you stay around this corner and get her if she runs, but don't hit any buildings."

Percy didn't even hear his reply, he was too terrified. He had seconds to decide where to go before the man turned and saw him! Glancing around, he dashed back to the staircase he had walked up earlier, and crouched behind the cement, holding his breath. Oh gods please don't let them see me, he thought, terrifyingly imaging what would happen if they caught him. He didn't have the best vantage point, considering he couldn't see anything that wasn't directly in front of him, so he waited tensely for the man to be distracted enough that he could leap out and run.

Sound met his ears, and he listened intently. Suddenly, a terrible thought struck him. What if they are trying to kidnap someone!? He thought wildly, fear intensifying. He tried to work out a strategy, but was too stressed to think of anything, so he decided to wait for the right moment.

Although he would never have been able to hear the conversation during the day, the utterly silent street allowed him to hear the faint conversing of two people as (he guessed) they turned to walk up the street.

"Yea, uh, my place is just up the street," a man said. Percy noticed a slight nervousness to his voice, which made him even more suspicious. Then a woman spoke, and Percy was hit with sudden recognition. "Great!" she answered smoothly, then, "it's been amazing with you tonight," she added silkily. Percy annoying couldn't place the voice, even though it was on the tip of his tongue. He also noticed that the voiced had stopped getting louder, indicating that they had stopped in the street. He tensed tighter than a coiled spring, and readied himself to jump into action.

"Yea," the man said with a small cough, "really great." He sounded even more nervous, and Percy was growing furious with his lack of vision.

Silence, then, "oh, uh, you're going to kiss me now?" Percy couldn't decide if it was a question or a statement, but he could tell something was about to happen. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out through the night, startling Percy so hard he leapt up, sword drawn, and stood shaking with adrenaline on the street before he had even realized what he was doing.

He heard another BANG, and someone, (the man?) yelled something incoherent. Percy saw the man with the bow tense and pull back the string, ready to fire, as another gunshot rang out. Then Percy knew exactly where that voice came from. "Did you really think that would work?" the woman laughed a sickening laugh, which made Percy freeze. Kelli? He thought shockingly, giving up all hope of staying hidden and racing out to get a better view.

How in Hades had she ended up here? These damn empousai just won't stay dead, he thought angrily. Rounding the corner, he faced the street in shock. He registered the man with the bow say something like, "what the hell kid?" before Kelli saw him, spotlighted under the only streetlamp on the road.

She was leaning over the man, about to kill him, as bullets passed through her harmlessly. Suddenly a red haired woman jumped out from behind the bushes parallel to her and rammed her over, catching her by surprise. The man with the bow stood up and cursed, as he raced out to help. Percy realized the empousai had revealed her true form, altering from a young woman into a hideous monster with flaming hair and vampire like teeth.

With her superior empousai strength, she pinned the red haired woman down as Percy raced toward her. The man with the bow fired an arrow at her, which didn't do much but cause a quick distraction. Percy realized that the two of them were too far away to help in time, Kelli was already renewing her attack on the woman. They struggled for a minute as the man dropped his bow and raced towards them, but it would be too late, and Percy had finally gathered his wits enough to form a plan.

Yelling, trying to distract her, he felt for the nearest source of water, which turned out to be a water main in the street, about a yard from the empousai. He cringed at the consequences that his actions would surely cause, but went through with it anyways, causing the water to erupt out of the ground and hit Kelli with a vicious burst. She rolled away, soaking wet, as Percy tried to keep up the current, drawing water from the pipes and pushing her into the middle of the street.

When the water had gone, he was within striking distance, but Kelli had recovered. Standing over the unconscious form of the man she was walking with, she faced Percy with a wild grin on her face. "Finally, someone worthy I can fight," she giggled.

Percy launched himself at her, Riptide slashing at her torso. She leapt back and tried to draw his attention with her hypnotic glare, but Percy powered through it and slashed again. Kelli was at a severe advantage, without a weapon, and she knew it. So she used the only weapon at her disposal and turned up the hypnotizing charmspeak, enticing him to lower his weapon.

It was too late for her though, Percy yelled and jabbed at her, sending her jumping backwards and toppling over the man she had been with. She landed hard on the pavement, and for a second, Percy thought it was enough to knock her out. He leaned over and got ready to give the final strike, but he was caught off balance as she suddenly grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward. He let out a startled gasp as he fell face first and knocked Riptide out of his hands.

Landing painfully, he tried to shake off the black spots that danced in front of his vision. He saw Kelli kick Riptide aside, and lean over him, ready to bite. He tried to shove her off him, but he was too disoriented.

He felt awful, in those few seconds, for his mom and Annabeth. After all he had been though, he was going to die alone, in the dark, on a deserted street, by some damn empousai that just won't stay dead, he though. Giving another, stronger shove, he tried to roll away from her, but he was stuck.

Her face leered over his for a second, triumph in her eyes, then she closed the gap between them and….dissolved into dust? Percy gasped as golden monster dust coated his face and settled all around him. The man from the alley stood above him, brandishing Riptide with a look of complete shock on his face.

"Holy crap," he whispered, locking eyes with Percy. He offered a hand to him, and Percy took it gratefully, swinging himself to his feet and brushing the dust off him. He could clearly see his rescuer now, his hood had fallen away to reveal short blonde hair, and a square-ish face. "Well that was…unexpected," he said with a surprised chuckle. He was covered in a slight mist of water, it seemed everyone but he had gotten wet.

He eyed Riptide, looked at Percy carefully, and then handed it cautiously to him. He turned to the red haired woman, who was soaking wet but slowly getting up. "I've seen a lot of weird things, and I mean a lot," she said, shaking her wet hair, "but seriously? A vampire woman? That definitely takes the cake," she finished with a small smile.

The blonde guy ran a hand through his short hair and turned to look for his bow. "Alright kid, you've got a lot of explaining to do," he muttered to Percy. Still recovering from his near death experience, Percy suddenly became aware of what he had just done, and he figured he had to get the heck out of there now. He looked around furtively for an escape route and noticed the first guy, lying on the ground and looking really pale, and soaking wet. He had a funny looking beard, and dark black hair. Blood had dried on his neck, near two puncture wounds. Oddly, Percy also noticed a faint blue light coming from his chest.

Although his first instinct was to help, he had already revealed too much, and he wasn't so sure he could take these people if they tried to question him. Growing ever more nervous, he started backing down the dark street, ready to turn and sprint at a moment's notice. The pair caught on quickly to his plans, and before Percy could run, the red haired woman had collected her gun and was pointing it at him.

"Sorry kid, but we can't just let you go," she said with a bit more authority in her voice. Keeping the gun trained on him, she glanced to the blond haired guy, who was leaning over the unconscious one. Suddenly he sputtered awake, letting out a gasp and spitting out water.

"Now, someone please tell me why I volunteered to be the bait in this set-up," he said exasperatedly. The red haired woman rolled her eyes. "I said "hot vampire" and you practically jumped at the job," she said with a chuckle. "This one's all on you Stark," the blonde haired man said, helping the other one up.

Percy felt a twinge of recognition. Hold on, did she say Stark? As in Tony Stark, AKA Iron man? Percy glanced behind him and saw the silhouette of the now under construction Stark tower. He glanced back apprehensively, and gave a closer look at the other two. All of a sudden, the pieces came together, and he actually took a step back in surprise. How could he have been so stupid?

Recalling the newspaper that had been passed around at camp, and the information from Chiron, he remembered the alien invasion like it was yesterday. The camp had gone completely insane, spreading rumors that the gods had called an emergency council. Then people started saying it wasn't aliens, but some monster from the underworld, and now they were all in jeopardy. That's when Chiron had to step in and quell all the rumors. Most of it was just lies, how could mortals defeat monsters from the underworld?

What bothered him the most was when someone brought information from some distant relative that worked at SHIELD that there was an Asgardian involved (no one had any idea what an Asgardian was, but there were rumors that they were gods). This set off so much craziness that Chiron practically locked everyone inside the camp until gossip had died down. Annabeth left for a few days after that, giving him a quick explanation that she needed to see her cousin.

Percy pushed all those thoughts down, figuring he would deal with them later, and brought himself back to the shock at hand. He was certain now that he was standing in front of half of the Avengers, specifically Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Iron Man.

He was totally freaking out now. How in Hades did he manage to put himself in these situations? Oh gods, now they were approaching him. Weapons gathered, (but still soaking wet) they advanced until they were a couple feet in front of him. Percy had capped Riptide, and the woman (he didn't know her name other than Black Widow) lowered the gun, but kept it by her side, un-holstered. After a couple seconds of silence, where Percy was completely frozen and had no idea what to say, Tony Stark cleared his voice and spoke.

"Well," he said uncertainly, "what the hell was that?" Black Widow rolled her eyes and tucked the gun away. "What my…associate, means is, there is definitely something up with you kid, so why don't you help us out. How about we start with names? I'm Natasha, this in Clint," she said, gesturing to Hawkeye, "and that's-"she was cut off suddenly by Stark.

"Tony Stark, billionaire, philanthropist-"

"Stark, shut up," she said quickly, growing irritated again. "I'm sure he's heard of us-"he managed to get in before she sent him a death-glare.

"Well, now that you know us, why don't you tell us who you are?" She gave him a friendlier look, but Percy saw right past it. He felt like a cornered animal, tense with fear that he would be arrested if he didn't comply. Looking at his options, he didn't think he had much of a choice but to give them his name. Maybe if he played the scared kid card, he would be allowed to leave. Uncertainly, he decided to give them his name, but he was scared of how far they could track him if they knew even his name.

"Name's Percy," he said timidly, testing out the scared kid game. "Just Percy?" she asked tentatively. "Yeah," he said carefully, "Percy Jackson," he added as an afterthought.

Realizing his error, his internal fear spiked again, and he almost fainted in panic. Oh gods, even if they look up my name they'll see everything I've done, where I live, who my mom is, he thought, remembering the titan war and all his cross country disasters, not to mention his rocky school records and the Gabe incident. Even a little digging would reveal that he was in all ways, a weird teenager. And he was dealing with super spies which meant he had to be super careful from here on out.

Composing himself, he just caught Natasha's next question. "So what were you doing out so late by yourself, Percy," she asked coolly.

"Just out for a walk," he answered shortly. "Okay," she continued, "now here's where I need you to answer honestly," She looked pointedly at him, "why, of all things, were you carrying a sword?"

Percy gave up on his act and hope that somehow the mist would conceal his sword. He neglected to answer, and decided to see how they would react. After a minute of silence, it was finally Clint who answered. "Look kid-I mean Percy, I'm really grateful for your help, but right now I'm also seriously considering taking you to the police station, so you should probably answer," he said seriously. That's when Percy decided he had better get the heck out of there. He also realized they were doing the "good cop, bad cop" thing, but already, like him, they had seemed to give it up. He realized they were probably figuring he was dangerous and possibly a criminal, not just some kid who helped out.

He tensed ever so slightly, and then found an opening. When Stark started to speak, Natasha shot him a glance, and in that split second, while she was distracted, he turned and ran. Gunshots sounded behind him, and he started weaving and running sporadically. He heard someone yell, and suddenly he was running faster and with more adrenaline then he ever had in his life. If he could just make it to the corner, he would be able to escape. Then he could deal with the consequences of giving them his name.

BANG! BANG! Gunshots sounded even closer to him, and he risked a quick glance behind him. This was all it took though, and in a split second, another gunshot rang out, and this time it hit home.

BAM. The bullet tore through his upper right shoulder, sending him off his feet and knocking him to the pavement. He cried out in surprise and hit the ground, hard. Sickeningly dizzy and already in intense pain, the adrenaline slowly leaked out of him until his fell fully unconscious. The last thing he saw was the three Avengers gathered around him.

A/N wow I feel really great, two updates in three days! Hope you like this one, its super long but I like how it went. ALSO this is the official start of major changes to this story, so im going to be deleting the old chapters and continuing from here (same story though, don't worry)

COMMENTS/REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED (even negative ones, if you have a problem you would like to point out, criticism was what drove me to improve the story)

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!