AN: Hey all, it's been a while hasn't it. Still here I am with a brand new chapter, hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks for reading and please do leave a review, they are pretty handy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Young Justice.

( - )

(Last Time)

Percy, didn't know what to say in response to that, in fact all he could do was tense, his grip on his sword tightening as he saw Fate's golden booted feet land lightly on the floor just in front of him, his eyes still fixed on the Demigod. "Be warned, Perseus Jackson, do not upset the balance."

With those last parting words, Doctor Fate raised his hands and pulled off his helmet. The green eyes of Wally West rolling back into his head as, the moment the helmet was removed, he fell forward, bouncing off of Percy and hitting the floor, unconscious.

"Well shit…" Percy muttered, his gaze following the speedster as he hit the floor, his body not far not from the corpses of both Kent Nelson and Abra Kadabra. "This didn't exactly go how I thought it would…"

( - )

Chapter 17

( - )

(With Percy and Diana)

"So, how are things going in your new team?" Diana asked, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow raising curiously as looked over her cup of coffee at him. An amused smile playing across her face, as he mirrored her expression, even as she then took a casual sip.

"Fine," Percy replied shortly, placing his own cup of tea down as settled back in his seat. "It's been… hard adjusting to being around people again. Especially teenagers."

"Yes, it does tend to be tiring having to deal with those so much younger than you." Diana nodded in agreement, taking another sip of her drink as she did so, before she carefully placed it down in front of her.

The two of them were currently sitting outside of a local café, 'Nellie's', in Happy Harbour, sharing a drink and a catch up the morning after he, M'gann, Wally and Artemis had returned from their most recent mission to the Tower of Fate. A shit show of a mission that had gone from simple chore/favour, to a brutal, deadly fight, so fast it almost gave him whiplash.

"Mortals are an odd breed. Both wonderful, and yet so naïve at times. And then mindlessly cruel and selfish at other times." Diana continued.

Both of them were currently dressed down for the occasion. With Diana wearing a smart, well-fitted coal-grey pantsuit. Whilst Percy wore jeans, boots, a baggy greenish blue shirt, and his Nemean Lion fur jacket.

"You say that, but the gods are far more capricious, and mindlessly cruel. If the mortals are like toddlers, obliviously bumbling around the world still full of self-centred wonder and hope. Then the gods and immortals are like young teenagers; they have the strength of an adult, the mind and sociopathy of a child, and the angst and edginess of a hormonal brat." Percy smiled.

Diana laughed at that, her melodic, tinkling laughter catching the attention of the other mortals sitting around them.

"You really are a cynical, old hypocrite Perseus." Diana said, shaking her head slightly a smile still on her face. "How is it that I'm several times older than you, and yet haven't quite descended to your level yet?"

"It must be because you are a better person than I," Percy replied dryly, a wry smile playing around his own mouth, before he shook his head. "Besides, I'm not a hypocrite. I included myself in that description of immortals."

"Well if the shoe fits," Diana shrugged innocently. Only to pause for a moment, a slight frown on her face. "That is the saying, isn't it? I often get confused with the different idioms and colloquial sayings the mortals have."

"I think that's right," Percy nodded. He didn't particularly care either way, he got the gist of what she was saying.

"Hmm." Diana nodded, taking another sip of her coffee. "But more seriously, how are things going?"

"They're fine," Percy nodded. "M'gann and I get along very well, and my relationship with Wally, Robin, Kaldur and Artemis is improving too. We seem to be building a good rapport, and are synergising well. That, and well, I'll admit the company is… nice."

"That's good," Diana smiled again. "It took me a lot longer to find my place in the Justice League."

"Hmm, I can imagine. The Batman?" Percy asked.

"He is quite intense, isn't he?" Diana laughed again. "Still, he might be an acquired taste, but he does mean well."

"He's arrogant, paranoid and somehow has both a superiority complex and an inferiority complex, both a mile wide." Percy shot back.

Diana rolled her eyes at the frank description. "I'll be honest, I didn't think that the two of you would get along. But still, I was hoping that you could you at least try to be civil. Batman has his… eccentricities, but then again so do you, and I, and all people with great power and responsibility."

"I'll make an effort, to be more… civil." Percy said after a few moments of silence. Signing as he gave in to his older 'cousins' unasked request. "For you."

"That's all I ask." Diana smiled again, reaching across and taking Percy's hand in her own as she did so.

Percy knew that it was a platonic gesture.

"And the good thing is that you'll have your chance to get on a better footing with him, later today." Diana continued, an impish smile on her face now. An expression that might seem alien to most who knew her, but which to Percy was becoming more and more familiar the longer he spent in her presence.

"Let me guess, another condescending lecture about how we could have done better?" Percy sighed, rolling his eyes at even the thought of getting a lecture from a man that was probably not even a third his age.

"Most probably," Diana smiled, her blue eyes dancing with mirth as she peered over her coffee cup at him. "But don't worry, you're not the only one he lectures. Superman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Hawkwoman, Green Lantern and I, he has given one of more of us similar lectures over the years after missions or fights. It's just one of his irritating peculiarities you have to accept. Not that his unique perspective, as a non-powered hero, isn't useful at times, because honestly it is."

"Uh-huh," Percy sighed.

"Speaking of your most recent mission," Diana forged on, reading his mood with ease as she redirected the conversation. "What ended up happening after you and Doctor Fate drove Klarion off?"

"Not much," Percy shrugged, a smile once again on his face as he welcomed the slight change of topics. Diana really was a people person, despite her brusque, and somewhat archaic demeanour and point of view. "We called in Red Tornado to take the body of Kent and Abra in, and then we placed the helmet back on its pedestal in the Tower of Fate and locked up again. Despite Wally's request to take it as a souvenir."

Percy rolled his eyes at the memory of the speedster's desire to take one of the world's most powerful magical artefacts home as an ornament.

"The tower has natural protections in place, far better protections than anything that even we, the Justice League, could put in place. In fact the only person who might have done a better job is Constantine, but… well he again is an acquired taste, and not an entirely reliable and corporative one at that." Diana replied, her face scrunching up in a slight frown at the thought of this 'Constantine'.

"I'll keep that in mind if I ever cross paths with him," Percy said, his lips quirking upwards at Diana's consternation. It took a lot to get under the Daughter of Zeus's skin, this Constantine must be a right bastard. "Speaking of Kent and Abra, what ended up happening to the bodies?"

"Kent had no relatives or next of kin, his wife died many years ago. But despite that he was a hero and a former member of the Justice Society. A service will probably be held for him sometime this week, with members of the League, and Kent's old friends and comrades being in attendance." Diana replied, her lips curving downwards, as a slight frown crossed her face. "He was one of the good ones."

Percy nodded at that for a moment, before he asked. "The Justice Society?"

"A precursor to the Justice League, it broke apart decades ago. Still they had a lasting legacy." Diana replied simply, her expression changing slightly as she then continued. "As for Abra, his body is being checked over by some medical consultants that help the League, after which it will be handed over to the proper authorities."

"Is there really a need for an autopsy?" Percy asked mildly. He hadn't intended to kill the wizard when they had fought, in fact he had deliberately attempted not too. His demise, in the end, had been an unfortunate happenstance, as he had ended up as collateral damage after the fight with Klarion.

"It's important," Diana nodded, her expression flat. "Abra was from the future, so from that standpoint there are things that can be learned from an autopsy, and an investigation of his tech. From another standpoint though, he died during a League sanctioned operation, even if that operation ended up being far more complicated and messy than originally planned."

"I'm guessing that some of the Leaguers are displeased then?" Percy asked with a frown.

"Some are, Captain Marvel, Batman, Green Arrow, Flash and a few others. Others however, like Hawkwoman, Hawkman, Captain Atom, Green Lantern, Martin Manhunter and myself, are more understanding. Especially considering the extenuating circumstances." Diana replied, her tone careful and noticeably controlled.

"Has there been some trouble over this?" Percy pressed, leaning forward in his seat now.

"Not trouble per say. More a conversation or rather moral debate that we've been skirting around for a long time now. Not that there has been any really conclusions or compromises on this topic." Diana continued, her tone still careful.

"Differences of opinions do happen. Everyone has different perspectives of what sometimes needs to be done, or should never be done. It all comes down to the person, their experiences, their perspectives on life, and their upbringing and even nature, to a certain extent." Percy nodded. He could understand just why it might be so difficult.

For him, moral quandaries like this had never really weighed him down.

It wasn't in his nature. He was a Demigod after, a natural born hero.

His body had been designed to be perfect, making him as strong, fast and durable as he needed to be to accomplish the tasks ahead of him.

His mind had also been hardwired to read and understand Ancient Greek.

His reflexes and battle instincts had been naturally fine-tuned to perfection, even before he had ever picked up a sword and trained.

More than that however, he had been born to die a horrible death at a young age. He had been bred to accept that and carry on no matter what, to not be weighed down by the anxiety, mind-numbing terror or depression that would usually come with such a predetermined fate.

Things like trauma, and grief, and the feelings associated with them were muted for him, and even then they tended to fade rapidly. So too did things like guilt, or anything really that might mentally cripple him in a fight. His brain had been specifically formed so that he would be able to carry on functioning, and keep on fighting, no matter what happened to him, or to his friends, or his comrades, or even his family.

It was the same with all Demigods, or all the Demigods belonging to the Greco-Roman Pantheon anyway. It was also the reason why they kept on fighting, even when their brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and uncles died. They retained the memories, but all emotions associated with those memories faded and became muted.

A Demigods brain chemistry was fundamentally different to a mortals.

If ever there was a prime example that Intelligent Design was also a thing, it was Demigods.

Oblivious to Percy's thoughts, Diana just smiled wryly. "That's true, but that's also what makes the Justice League works. It is our differences of opinions which keeps it from stagnating. Debates like the one we had after Abra's demise, they are important to the continued development and understanding between members. If we all spoke with one voice, and one opinion…, well that would not be a League I would want to stay in."

"Even if they all spoke with your voice?" Percy asked slyly.

"Especially that," Diana shot back, a smile returning to her face at Percy's surprised expression. "No being; be they god, demigod or mortal is flawless, or always right. I have views that probably align with yours, views that have been created through hard-won experience, age, and the cynical realisation that humanity have the potential to be just as, or maybe even more, monstrous than even the most terrible of monstrosities. That said there are also thoroughly, and genuinely, decent people out there, be they men or women, human or non-human, or even villain or hero."

"Some people can be redeemed," Percy nodded. "But some can't, some people are too dangerous to be left alive."

"On that we agree, however should you and I be the ones to judge?" Diana replied, a sad smile on her face now. "Once upon a time I did think that I, Diana an immortal, a Demigoddess, a warrior and a Princess, had the right to judge. Now however, I have realised that people are far more complicated than just first impressions, or than what's just visible on the surface. Just because someone has done bad things, doesn't mean that they can't turn their lives around and become something better."

"True, but if they've been given that chance over and over, and always rejected change in exchange for causing more pain and carnage, is that not enough evidence for you to pass judgement?" Percy shot back. That was a pretty good description for a large proportion of villains in this world.

"I would say yes, others however would say no, and that there is always a chance for them to change their ways. Or that it should not be up to us, but instead the government, and society in general, to condemn those types of people to death." Diana shrugged, toying with her coffee cup as she did so. "In the end we can only do what we think is right, and then wait for the consequences."

"And will there be consequences?" Percy asked, before clarifying as he saw Diana raise an eyebrow. "For Abra's death?"

"No, his death has been attributed to being accidental, and in the defence of others. Were it not for both him and Klarion attacking and trying to kill you and your team, then he would still be alive. It was obviously not as simple as that, but still, in the end it was decided that there were extenuating circumstances, and that you were not at fault." Diana replied, another soft smile on her face as she finished her cup of coffee and set it gently down on the table.

"That's good," Percy nodded, before then changing the topic again. "On another note though, Superboy?"

"Ah yes, you've heard about our team up then?" Diana replied a genuine smile once again prominent on her face.

"In passing, he was just getting up and eating cereal as I left the base. I mentioned I was seeing you, and he told me to tell you 'thanks'." Percy nodded, raising a brow as he sent Diana a curious look.

"He's a good person, young Caleb." Diana said mildly. "I just took him out for the day to Metropolis. I was going to ambush Superman with him, and force that idiotic, man child to at least take a passing interest in his progeny. A child that is in need of guidance and help, just as Superman himself was when he first arrived. But we got distract by a nuisance villain I have to deal with every now and then. Not that she was much of a challenge to the two of us."

"Ah, so you've bonded through fighting. I get that." Percy said, a slight smile on his face.

"Not in any sort of perverse way, we are not you and Pyrrha." Diana shot back, an unamused look on her face for a moment, only for it to then dissolve into a smirk. "But no, he is confused, and angry, understandably so. But he has a good heart."

"And a good name too, by the sounds of it." Percy tagged on.

"Yes, he looked upset to not have a name, so I suggested the first one I could come up with. Not that Caleb is a bad name, in fact I think he'll come to like it, it'll be a good reminder of the child he saved. A child that wouldn't be alive today, were it not for him." Diana said, not looking at Percy now as she instead stared off in the direction of Mount Justice.

"And the last name, Kent?" Percy queried.

"Again fitting, but for other reasons." Diana said, a mysterious smile crossing her face.

Percy snorted into amusement at that, but didn't give her the satisfaction of asking for an answer she was clearly not going to give him.

"Speaking of your team though, you should probably be getting back soon." Diana then continued. "You have two new members joining today, if I am not mistaken."

"New members?" Percy asked, a slight frown on his face. With how late he had gotten in last night, and how early he had left this morning, he hadn't had a chance to see many of the others before he left.

"Oh, you don't know yet?" Diana grinned, a cat like smile on her face.

"And I'm guessing you won't tell me now…" Percy sighed back.

"Now where would the fun in that be?" Diana replied.

"You're a pain in the ass sometimes, you know that, don't you?!" Percy grumbled, before with another sigh he finished his tea and stood up. Stretching slightly and rolling his shoulders as he did so. "And for that, you can get the bill."

"Now that's not very gentlemanly of you." Diana said, rolling her eyes as she too stood up. Grabbing her handbag as she did so, before she pulled out a couple of dollars to cover the drinks and a tip.

In response to that, Percy grinned and winked at her, before he then turned and started to head off. "I'll see you round, Diana."

"Don't be a stranger, Perseus." Diana called after him. "Oh, and try and head back home every now and then won't you, or at least call. I know that Donna is missing you."

Percy waved back at that, and gave a nod.

"And Pyrrha too, I believe she wants a rematch! And in more ways than one!" Diana continued, a hint of levity entering her tone as she raised her voice so he could still hear her.

Hearing that, Percy flipped his older cousin the bird over his shoulder. Ignoring a reproachful gasp from a nearby mother and her children, as he instead heard Diana's lilting laughter follow after him, even as he headed back to Mount Justice to meet these new team members.

( - )

(With Percy at Mount Justice)

Walking out of the sea a short while later, his body and clothes as dry as a bone. Percy quickly entered the 'secret' base the easy way, a nonchalant expression on his face as he stroll up to a sheer rock face on the mountain and then pressed an innocuous piece rock, a disguised hand scanner, and opened up the mountain's garage. The ground beneath him shifting downwards, even as the rock just to the side and in front of him shifted upwards.

Mussing up his wild, messy black hair, Percy continued into the base. Ignoring the grating sound of the mountain closing up behind him as he instead continued in on through a short, rocky passage and into the main chamber.

Already he could see some of the others up and about, all of them wearing their civvies. Including the Gotham natives; Robin and Artemis, the newly named Caleb, the currently eating Wally, and Kaldur and M'gann. All of whom turned to him as he entered the room, shucking off his jacket as he did so, before he threw it onto a nearby couch.

"Morning all," Percy grunted, rolling his neck slightly as he strolled up to the lounge/ kitchenette area where they were all congregating. "How are we all doing?"

"Good, man," Robin replied, a grin spreading across his still masked face as he gave him a wave. "Artemis, and the Wall-man here, were just giving us a rundown of your most recent mission."

"Ah yes, it was a bit of a mess wasn't it." Percy laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as he joined them, leaning up against one of the counters as he did so.

"Coffee, Percy?" M'gann asked straight away, disengaging from her conversation with Kaldur as she instead came over to him, a jug of coffee and a spare cup already moving through the air towards her, along with a plate a freshly baked cookies. The plate of cookies in question shooting out of Kid Flash's reach, much to his displeasure.

"Coffee sounds good," Percy nodded, his smile widening as the pretty Martian girl then gave him a cup. "And good morning, M'gann. How did you sleep?"

"Well," M'gann replied happily, before pausing for a moment, her tone softening slightly as she did so. "Though that's because yesterday evening was pretty tiring, I don't think I've ever been as tired I as I was when we got back."

"Yeah, it was a bit of a shit show," Percy nodded, sipping his coffee and grabbing a cookie as he did so. "Who knew it would turn out like that."

"Yeah, they were just telling us. I can't believe you ended up going up against an A-lister like Klarion." Robin said, his own smile fading. "Sound like I missed a hell of a fight."

"It was pretty rough," Artemis nodded, a smirk playing across her face as she noticed the Boy Wonder's disappointment. Only for the smirk to fade into a look of curious contemplation as she met Percy's gaze.

"Yeah, I don't remember anything, not after putting the helmet on anyway." Wally added on, a frown on his face.

"That's probably because you were possessed." Artemis rolled her eyes, tearing her gaze away from Percy now as she instead gave Wally a mocking smirk. "And you deliberately got possessed too, which is pretty stupid."

Wally scowled at that, his mouth already opening as he made to snark back.

However before he could reply, M'gann spoke up in his defence.

"It might not have been the wisest of things to do," The red head said from beside Percy, pouring out her own cup of coffee as she did so. Her mind already naturally connecting with the peripheral edges of Percy's, enveloping him like a warm blanket, as she updated him on conversation they had been having prior to his arrival. "But it was necessary. Klarion was too strong for any one of us to handle, even Percy."

"Wait, the Witchboy was stronger than you?" Robin piped, an incredulous look on his face.

"In terms of raw power, I'd say yeah, definitely. In terms of fighting experience and skill though, I'm not so sure. Klarion's abilities are incredibly versatile and he clearly knows a shit ton of magic, but to me he came across as more of a schemer than a direct fighter. He was tough there is no doubt about that, and had a shit tonne of power behind him, but he was also limited too, or at least in terms of his imagination." Percy shrugged.

"That or he was holding back," Kaldur added on speculatively, drawing the group's attention to him as he cupped his chin with one hand and looked pensively at those who had been on the mission.

"I don't know," M'gann said hovering in the air slightly, a thoughtful look on her own face now. She was currently in her natural green Martian form, not the human form she had been playing around with in preparation for her and Superboy's first day of school. "Klarion didn't come across as the type to hold back, and he was definitely going for the kill last night."

"He certainly liked playing games and toying with people though," Artemis cut in, a frown on her face. "The guy…, demon thing, or whatever he was, was a complete freak like that, he was totally getting off on causing pain."

"That's true, but he is still dangerous." Percy said, a frown on his face too. "If Doctor Fate hadn't helped out, then I don't know what would have happened. We could've have all died."

"Well luckily he did," M'gann said, reaching out and giving Percy's hand a squeeze of support as she did so, a gentle smile on her freckled face as she looked over at him comfortingly.

Glancing down at their joined hands, Percy noted the gesture, but didn't comment on it. Instead he gave her a smile and a nod, before he then looked over at the quiet, Caleb. "But anyway, the last mission aside. I hear Superboy, finally has a name?"

The others turned around at this sudden change in topic, only to see the clone grinning back at them.

"Yep, the name is Caleb Kent, nice to meet you all." Caleb grinned, a happy twinkle in his eyes as he saw the others all smile, before they suddenly crowded around him and started to congratulate him, or at least Wally, Artemis and Robin did.

M'gann meanwhile, called her own congratulations from beside Percy, with Kaldur walking over to join them. A slight frown on the Atlantean's face as he approached, his gaze on Percy. It looked as if he had something he wanted to say, but just didn't know how to broach the topic.

Unfortunately however, before he had a chance to put words to what was on his mind, he along with the rest of the team, were interrupted by the Zeta Tubes activating and the tinny voice overhead ringing out a number of names.

"Recognised: Batman 02"

"Recognised: Aquaman 06"

"Recognised: Black Canary 13"

"Recognised: Red Tornado 16"

"Recognised: Aquagirl B09"

"Recognised: Batgirl B10"

Blinking in surprise at the large influx of newcomers, Percy and the rest of the team headed over to the centre of the base to meet the new arrivals.

The costumed figures of Batman, Aquaman, Black Canary and Red Tornado were all clearly recognisable as they stepped out of the Zeta Tubes and came to stand before the assembled team. Batman and Aquaman in the middle, whilst Red Tornado their League supervisor, and Black Canary their combat trainer, stood to either side.

The two teenage girls standing with them however, who came to a stop on either side of Batman and Aquaman, they were not as recognisable.

Batgirl for one, as the name might suggest, wore a skin tight, slightly less armoured, bat-themed costume that clung quite tightly to her noticeably curvaceous form. With the costume having a few noticeable differences to Batman's more monotone, utilitarian and armoured costume.

Including the smaller, slightly different shaped, yellow bat symbol which was splayed across her chest. As well as the shorter, half cape she was wearing, which also had a yellow lining. With the final main difference being the slightly longer ears on her cowl,, the wider eyes holes, and finally the noticeable gap at the back of her half mask, which allowed her long mane, of slightly curly, red hair flow out and onto her back.

Aquagirl however, another red head that looked to be around the same age as Batgirl, wore a very different costume. One which seemed to be made up of numerous shimmering, bronze scales, which formed a tightly fitting armour that covered her slim looking, body, arms and legs. Over the top of which she also wore a pair of glinting, green, scaled bracers on her forearms, similar coloured greaves on her shins, and flared, scaled boots on her feet, and then finally a bronze coloured, crown like helmet that covered her head, but which left her pretty, freckled, face open and visible for all to see.

These, Percy assumed, must be the new team members.

They both looked to be around sixteenish, maybe a bit older, or maybe a bit younger. On top of which they both had quite obvious themes. Batgirl was clearly one of Batman's sidekicks/ protégés, whilst Aquagirl, both due to the name and the style of her armour, was the similarly linked to Aquaman.

Glancing sideways at this thought, Percy spied both Kaldur and Robin's expressions. Had the duo been replaced, or did they already know about the newcomers ahead of time?

Kaldur at a glance, looked happy, probably the happiest Percy had ever seen him. Already Percy could see a slight reddish tint spreading across Kaldur's face as he smiled at the pretty Aquagirl, his pupils noticeably dilating.

By the looks of it, Percy mused, Aqualad had a crush on Aquagirl, and a big one at that.

Percy's lips curled upwards into a smile at that realisation.

Robin on the other hand was much harder to read. The younger teen's expression was quite blank as he looked between the two newcomers, his gaze straying more to Aquagirl than Batgirl. The slightest hint of surprise just about visible on his partially masked face.

From this, Percy guessed he had been aware of Batgirl's inclusion in the team, but not Aquagirl's. Which was honestly interesting, as the opposite could be said for Kaldur.

The team, by the looks of it, was still keeping secrets from one another. Which in turn made him feel better about keeping his own origins, and personal life, private. Or at least as private as it currently was, as already he suspected both M'gann and Artemis had at least an inkling as to what he was. Not that either of them had confronted him about it, or even made a veiled reference to them knowing what he is.

"Good, you're all here," Batman said immediately, in lieu of an actual greeting. His masked eyes scanning all those present, before coming to rest on Percy, his gaze noticeably hardening and his posture stiffening as he locked gazes with him.

"That we are," Percy spoke up, meeting Batman's gaze levelly for a moment, before he looked over at the others. Red Tornado's blank emotionless face was turned to him, even as the android gave him a shallow nod and a greeting. Aquaman meanwhile just met his gaze steadily, his blue eyes locking with Percy's sea green for a moment, before he looked away, and instead gave Kaldur a small smile and a short greeting.

"My King," Kaldur nodded respectfully, tearing his gaze from Aquagirl for a moment to do so.

The two new girls however both awkwardly nodded to the rest of the team. Neither of them looked one hundred percent comfortable at that moment, then again considering they were meeting strangers, who they would probably going on life and death missions with sooner rather than later, maybe that wasn't too surprising.

"As you might have noticed, you will soon be having two new team members." Batman continued brusquely, looking over the rest of the team now, as he gestured to waiting Batgirl and Aquagirl. "The two of them are relatively new to hero work, but have proven themselves to be skilled, and to have a lot of potential. Treat them well."

"Yes," Aquaman spoke up, taking over for Batman after the taciturn hero's less than stellar introduction. "Aquagirl is one of my wife's students, she is highly skill in wielding Atlantean magic." This time Wally noticeably didn't scoff. "Furthermore she is a skilled combatant in both armed and unarmed combat. I'm hoping that both she and the team will benefit from her inclusion."

"Hey," Artemis spoke up, giving the two newcomers a wave. "Nice to finally get some more girl's on the team."

Batgirl's expression noticeably relaxed at that statement, a cheeky smirk instead crossing her face as she scanned the male members of the team, lingering on Superboy, and then looked back over at Artemis. "I see nothing wrong with the current ratio."

Artemis snorted slightly, "Yeah there is some good eye candy on the team, it's just a pity about Wally."

"Oi!" Wally called out, much to some of the other's amusement.

"Welcome to the team, I look forward to working with you both." Kaldur spoke up next, talking over Wally and Artemis as they almost immediately started bickering and sniping at one another.

"Thanks," Batgirl said with a grateful smile. "I'm happy to be here, Robin talked the team up a lot the last time I saw him. So I'm really look forward to getting to know you all."

"Yes," Aquagirl added. "Kaldur also spoke well of you. As my King said, I am somewhat of a novice to this line of work. I look forward to learning from you all."

At the girl's somewhat formal and stilted words, Percy noted how her gaze trailed over to him and lingered.

Taking this as his cue, Percy forced a smile and stepped forward. "Like the others said, welcome. It's always good to see new up and coming heroes. The team at the moment is still quite new, so I reckon you'll have no trouble fitting in. I'm Perseus by the way, but you can just call me Percy, I'm currently the team leader."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Batgirl, but you can called me Barbara." Batgirl smiled, stepping forwards, her hand thrust out as she took Percy's in a firm, friendly handshake.

"Woah, one of the Batpack just dropped their secret identity." Wally mock gasped.

Batman stiffened at that, but remained quiet. Robin meanwhile frowned slightly, but also didn't verbally react.

"Ignore the idiot." Artemis said stepping forwards now. "I'm Artemis, the idiot is Wally. Nice to meet you both."

"The same." Barbara nodded.

"I'm Tula," Aquagirl said stepping forwards too, even as Kaldur and Caleb introduced themselves to Barbara. "I've heard a lot about you Percy, it's an honour to meet someone as skilled in water magic as I've heard you are."

"Er, thanks," Percy chuckled taking Tula's hand and shaking it, even as the rest of the team and newcomers converged.

"I'm M'gann," M'gann interrupted, forcing her way between Tula and him, a bright smile on her face as she claimed Tula's attention. "I'm Martian Manhunters niece, but well, I'm here now. You can call me Megan, or M'gann, or whatever really. It's nice to meet you Tula!"

"Nice to meet you, Megan," Tula smiled, her smile, for whatever reason, slightly more stilted than it had been before.

Taking this as his cue to leave, Percy slipped away from the teens as they all started meeting and greeting one another. Robin getting noticeably embarrassed as Barbara and Wally teased him a bit about his 'secret identity', after all he was the only one on the team who continued to hide behind his alias. Tula meanwhile was introduced to Caleb and Artemis, even as Kaldur began to hover around her, the dark skinned teen talking far more than he usually did as he started to introduce his 'crush' to everyone.

Noting this, Percy smiled and nodded to some of his other teammates, even as he quietly extricated himself from them and instead approached the nearby adult heroes.

Already he could see some of them were getting a bit antsy.

Aquaman already looked like he wanted to leave, though obviously not before saying his goodbyes to both Tula and Kaldur.

Batman too looked quite impatient as the teenagers chatted, or at least more impatient than usual.

Red Tornado, was just Red Tornado, an emotionless looking android. It was impossible to tell what the 'guy' was thinking.

Black Canary meanwhile, she just looked strained, almost anxious.

As he approached the group, Percy again noticed that Canary was tense and uncomfortable. The reason for this though eluded him. Though, as he approached he did notice that she wasn't able to meet his gaze, which was odd considering he had, at least from his perspective, always had an amiable relationship with her.

"Perseus," Batman said bluntly, his eyes narrowing again as Percy joined the group of four.

"Batman, Canary, Tornado…, Aquaman…" Percy acknowledged, his eyes trailing over to the 'King of Atlantis' for a moment. He had still not made his mind up on Aquaman, and how he felt about this mortal laying claim to the throne of Atlantis, and, by the looks of it, wielding an alternate version of Poseidon/ Neptune's trident.

It still didn't complete sit right with him, despite this being a different world, and a different Atlantis. He still couldn't help but subconsciously think of the man as a usurper, a pretender. Sooner rather than later, he would need to speak to the man, and try to come to a conclusion on just what he thought with him.

Tearing his gaze from the hero, Percy tuned back into the conversation as he saw Batman had started talking again.

"We need to debrief you on your most recent mission." Batman stated simply, cutting over the others greetings as he instead focused in on Percy.

"I gave Red Tornado a full report last night at the Tower of Fate," Percy replied bluntly. "Surely he shared the recordings with all of you. I mean I take it that he did take recordings, didn't you?"

Red Tornado nodded.

"He did," Batman acknowledged. "But we still need to discuss your use of excessive force when you were engaging Abra and Klarion."

"Abra and Klarion had taken Kent Nelson hostage, tortured him, and then tried to kill us. It was all I could do to keep my team and myself alive. When it comes down to protecting the lives of myself and others, especially when they're in mortal peril, there is in my mind, no such thing as excessive force." Percy shot back stubbornly, not backing down even as Batman used his 'Batglare' on him.

The mortal had a long way to go before he could even come close to intimidating a person who had stared down gods, giants, eldritch monsters and titans.

"Abra, by your own admission, was bound and incapacitated during your fight with Klarion." Batman replied. "This being after you had already wounded him."

"He was at the time incapacitated, and honestly, I do regret the course of actions that led to his death. I did not intend to cause his death, but I was forced into a difficult position." Percy said, a frown now on his face. He really did regret Abra's death, but he would not twist himself in knots over the death of a murderous thief that had attacked him and his teammates, and had kidnapped and tortured an unarmed old man.

"We understand that you were in a difficult positon," Aquaman cut in, his tone easier and more level than Batman's. "But still, you need to learn Percy, that with great power, comes great responsibility. I personally would probably have made the same choice, if it truly came down to a decision between Abra's life and the life of my teammates, or innocents. It is an impossible positon to be in. But still, this is not the first time that you've used excessive force, it is becoming an issue."

"I see," Percy said, his expression flat and unreadable. He didn't want to start a fight right now, especially not after he had just promised Diana that he would try being more civil with Batman, and thus by association the other members of the League. "If you want me to step down as team leader, I will."

"We're not suggesting that, or at least not yet." Canary spoke up, once again cutting in before the scowling Batman could. "You've been doing a pretty good job so far, both in encouraging, organising and leading your team, and also in delegating responsibility and leadership opportunities to the younger members. The only issue we have, is your… tendency to overreact, violently, when you or your team are in dangerous situations."

Percy didn't reply to that, instead he gave Canary a flat stare. The blonde still looked incredibly uncomfortable, and almost self-conscious. Something was bothering her, though just what it was, he didn't know.

"For now things will continue as they are," Batman once again spoke up. "Wonderwoman, Hawkwoman and Manhunter and a couple of others, have been big proponents of yours. But know that you are on notice. We want this team to work, and we want the members, yourself included, to develop and grow stronger, and more competent. What we don't want, is any of you picking up bad habits, and misusing your abilities…"

Almost immediately Percy could hear that the Batman was deliberately censoring himself at this current time. His words were too diplomatic, and a lot of what he obviously wanted to say, had gone unsaid.

Apparently the Justice League had more 'internal political issues' going on in it than he had first thought.

"I'll keep that in mind," Percy replied neutrally. He wasn't exactly happy, but he didn't want to kick off about it. "If there is anything else?"

Black Canary shifted again at that, her gaze flicking between Batman and Percy, before with a sigh she shook her head.

"No, not for you personally, or at least not right now…" Batman said, his words implying that he had more he wanted to say, but not right now, or at least not in such a public setting. "So for the moment go join your team and get to know them, I'll have another mission for you soon."

"Hopefully one that we'll know the full facts about going in." Canary added on.

"This will give you enough time to get to know one another's personalities and skillsets." Red Tornado said, his mechanical eyes moving from Percy, as he instead scanned the rest of the team, all of whom were now beginning to look over in their direction. "A necessity if you are to function cohesively on the field."

Percy nodded at that. Hopefully the next mission would be an easy one, one that they could use to properly get to know the new team members. Tornado was not wrong when he said that needing to know the skills and personalities of your comrades was a necessity if you were to work together. The last thing they needed was to go on a mission, that once again turned into a shambles through no control of their own.

( - )

(Back on the Watchtower, sometime later)

Sitting back in his chair with a frown of consternation, Bruce Wayne couldn't help but rub his temples with his free hand.

The results he was seeing didn't make sense. They were nonsense.

But yet he had run the sample through the machine five times now, and every time it game back with the same garbled mess.

Percy Jackson shouldn't be alive.

It was as simple as that, half his genetic code was just missing. The parts he could see were sort of human, but still quite bizarre.

He wasn't a metahuman, or at least not a kind of metahuman that Bruce had come into contact with before. Nor was he an alien, or at least Bruce didn't think he was. The human parts of his DNA were present, if mangled, but there were no other traces of terrestrial or extra-terrestrial genetics in his blood.

"So maybe an alien I've not come across." Bruce muttered to himself, rubbing his chin now as he stared at the screen. His brow knitted in irritation. Just getting the sample had been annoying enough, Dinah had been twisting herself in knots ever since she had handed it over, and it was beginning to wear on even his patience.

For him to get no results out of it now, after everything he had done. That just pissed him off even more.

"So what kind of alien would not be constructed of genetic material." Bruce used. He was currently alone in his lab, there were others in the Watchtower, but they were either on the comms, or resting, or training. In the labs it was only him, which is why he had pulled down his cowl for the occasion.

"Maybe some kind of energy being then," Bruce muttered, clicking off the results now as he instead logged into the League's alien database, one that had been helpfully constructed, and was regularly updated, by Green Lantern. "Or one that is made of other matter? Extra-dimensional matter…"

Bruce's face darkened at that thought. Did demons have DNA, some of them were after all beings made of chaotic magic?

"So then maybe Percy Jackson is the progeny of a demon?" Bruce muttered, tapping his fingers on the console now. He didn't particularly like the teen, he was arrogant, entitled and almost sociopathic in his tendencies. But did that mean that he should straight away jump to the conclusion that he was a hellspawn? "I may need to contact Constantine for a consult…"

Using the alien databases filter settings, Bruce scanned through the many different species, trying to find a match for energy based lifeforms that might have arrived on earth.

He didn't have much luck.

"So if not alien, then maybe he is a magical being. He apparently describes his powers as being based on magic, so maybe he was born in a ritual. It would explain his more… difficult traits." Bruce continued, his attention on the screen in front of him, as he entered a new database, one built up of magic rituals that Leaguers had seen, encountered or head of. "But then how does Diana feature into this? She claims he is her cousin, but he is not an Amazon, his abilities are more in line with an Atlantean than an Amazon anyway, but I've already compared him against several samples of Atlantean genetic code…"

He was missing something, he was certain of that.

But he didn't know what.

"Diana is an Amazon, an Amazon Demigod…" Bruce muttered to himself. He trusted Diana and believed her about her origins, had seen too much freaky shit to deny the existence of celestial beings.

Bruce suddenly sat up straight, his eyes widening as he clicked out of the magic database and instead opened up a basic search engine.

He is Diana's cousin, and has hydrokinetic abilities, geokinetic abilities and electrokinetic abilities. His DNA was mangled, and incomplete, suggesting that he was descended from some energy based being, like a celestial.

Zeus had a brother, one who had dominion over water, earthquakes and storms…

Entering his revelation into the search engine, Bruce was soon rewarded with the picture of a bared chested, strongly built man, with a slivery beard and mane of hair, a golden trident clutched in one hand as he emerged from a ferocious looking ocean.

Poseidon.

Poseidon was the brother of Zeus, Uncle of Diana, and so was likely the father of Percy Jackson.

Meaning that Percy Jackson was not human, or even mortal, but instead he was a Demigod!

Bruce almost wanted to slap himself in the face for not seeing it early, but instead of that he just smile a small, triumphant smile, he had figured out just what Percy Jackson was, and so now could work out the full range of his abilities.

Soon, very soon, he would be able to come up with a countermeasure to deal with him, if and only if the temperamental Demigod ended up going rogue.

Bruce's smile widened at that thought, only for it to drop slightly as he suddenly remembered that he needed to brief the team about a new mission, a covert, fact-finding operation, in Bialya.

( - )

AN: So what do you think, the secret is now loose, and shit will probably be hitting the fan sooner rather than later. Still it's not all bad, the team has new members, and thus far they are all getting along relatively well.

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I know it has been a while, but even so I hope I haven't lost too many readers.

That said reading this, please keep in mind that it is from Percy's perspective, or at least most of it, so it will have a natural bias towards him being right. That however doesn't necessarily mean he is, it is just his view of things.

On another note though, I am surprised that no one got the easter egg in the last chapter, hinting towards a future non-canon arc, one that is based around a DC Animated Film. Or at least I can't remember anyone getting it. Though it has been a while since I last worked on this story. But then again what else is new, I've been struggling to get any writing at all done over the last few months.

But anyway, on another not, I hope you liked the chapter, a bit of downtime for the team, and I'll 'see' you again at next one hopefully. Hope you leave a review, if you fancy, if not don't worry about it, just enjoy.

Thanks a lot for reading.

Greed720.