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Will was exhausted. Everyone was, but Will especially.
The number of infected had grown at an enormous rate, and so had the death toll. To put it into perspective, apart from Will, Nico, Piper, Clarisse, Conor, Travis and Chiron (although he was half horse so he didn't know if he even could get infected) everyone had been infected. Everyone.
Few had managed to leave before this all started, but because all communication had been severed between Camp and the outside world, some demigods had come back.
Maybe because they had forgotten something, maybe because of monster attacks getting to be too much. No matter the reason, they had returned, and now they now couldn't leave.
"Will, you can't keep going on like this, you're running yourself ragged," said Nico, looking at him with concern.
"Nobody else is able to take care of everyone except me. And I am not leaving those kids to fend for themselves. They'll die," Will said firmly, but he didn't sound all that assertive from the lack of sleep creeping into his tone.
"They're going to die anyway!" exclaimed Nico. Will looked at him in shock, resulting in Nico wilting under his gaze. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I just hate seeing you like this," said Nico, lowly.
Will's gaze softened and he sighed. "I appreciate your concern, Nic's. Really, I do. But I'm a doctor. I can't leave my patients when they need me," insisted Will.
Nico looked at him before dropping his gaze to the ground. "They're getting more violent," he muttered. Will paused before nodding. "They are."
"And we're no closer to finding a cure?" asked Nico, still not looking at him. Will didn't say anything, which was answer enough.
A silence took over, neither of them speaking as they sat in a state of hopelessness. Suddenly, Nico stood up.
"We have to get Percy," announced Nico, before he started walking towards Half-Blood hill, and the border of camp.
"Nico, we can't!" Will called, scurrying up to chase after him. "You said we were all clear when we tested for the virus," exclaimed Nico. "I did, but that can't be guaranteed," said Will as he grabbed onto Nico's arm to stop him in his stride.
"The test may have been faulty for one thing, but this plague is highly contagious. Even if we were negative when we tested an hour ago, we may still have contracted the disease now!"
Nico glared at him, pulling his arm out of Will's grip and continuing towards Thalia's tree. "Then what's the point?! If we're all most likely to get it at some stage, we might as well use the time we have to send someone out to find Percy, get him to start hunting for a cure from the safety and resources of the outside world, and make sure him and anyone else who has left doesn't return to camp!"
Will dashed forward and placed himself firmly in front of Nico, preventing him from going any farther. "And what if that person is carrying traces of the illness, and infects Percy? You know, the most powerful demigod of our age?" cried Will.
"And let's say they don't have the plague. Do you really think Percy is going to stay away when everyone is in danger? Have you met the guy?" questioned Will.
Nico was silent, his earlier look of assertion now gone, replaced with one of defeat.
Will sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to discourage Nico, but he didn't know how else to get him to listen.
"Look," began Will in a calmer tone. "I understand your thinking, but we can't risk it."
Nico looked like he was about to protest again when a voice from beside them interjected the conversation.
"My son's right, you know," it said. Will and Nico's heads whipped round to see a young teenage boy standing a few feet away from them. He was smirking at them, giving a relaxed aura, but dark bags could be seen under his eyes, suggesting otherwise.
"Who are you?" asked Will, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "What, you saying you don't recognise your old man?" asked the kid, his grin growing wide, like Will's eyes at that moment.
"Apollo?" asked Nico, surprised. "At your service," he said with a tilt of his head. "But actually don't ask me to do anything. I've had a long day," he said, yawning.
"What are you doing here? Actually no, stupid question. Why are you only here now?" questioned Will, irritation leaking into his voice.
Apollo looked at his son for a long moment, then sighed. "I'm actually not supposed to be here at all, so be happy I am," he admitted. It was not exactly what Will wanted to hear, and his annoyance must have shown on his face, because Apollo sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry we haven't been in contact. But things are not going well on Olympus right now," he said. "Things aren't going well here!" exclaimed Will, gesturing around them.
Apollo shot him a look, but didn't chastise him. Wow, things must be bad up there.
"Because the extent of the virus is still unknown, Zeus has forbidden anyone from coming down to Earth," explained Apollo. "But I had to speak to you. Both of you."
He paused. Nico and Will shared a worried glance before he continued.
"Nico. I understand that you want to find a way to stop this. But you can not risk it."
"But-" began Nico, but Apollo silenced him, raising his hand. "You are the son of Hades. Can you imagine what might happen if you contracted the virus, and then ventured into the outside world?" he said, raising his eyebrows.
Nico opened his mouth, but closed it once Apollo's words had sunk in. "I suppose that wouldn't be great," he admitted.
"I'm glad you agree. You are very powerful, Nico. We can't risk loosing you or going out to the mortals," Apollo told him sincerely. Nico nodded; expression neutral.
"Now, there is something else I need to tell you both; something extremely important," he began, darkly. Will and Nico looked at each other, fear working its way in.
"Percy has been taken by a group of mortal superheroes and is being held by their government agency."
Will jerked back in shock, Nico's expression morphing into one of horror. "What?" they asked simultaneously.
"They think he's apart of some terrorist organisation that creates child-soldiers with dangerous powers," he explained.
They stared at him, waiting for him to say he was kidding. He didn't.
"It gets worse," continued Apollo. "How could it get worse?" asked Will, exasperated.
"They have both Percy and Jason," he said. Nico's jaw actually dropped. Will racked his hands through his hair.
"Please tell me you're joking," deadpanned Nico. Apollo shook his head, looking as unhappy about this as they did.
"This is bad. Really bad," started Will, now frantically pacing back and forth. "That means if Percy is infected, he's probably infected Jason too! Which means they've passed it on to a group of superpowered mortals, which well then continue to spread it in the mortal world-"
"Will." Apollo interrupted his growing swirl of panic. He reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, halting his alarmed movements.
There was something calming about the touch from his father. It relaxed him a bit, and he looked into his eyes. "I know it's hard, but I need you to pull yourself together. Gaia hasn't won yet. We still have a chance," assured Apollo.
Will gazed at him for what felt like an eternity, before begrudgingly sighing and nodding. "Okay. Okay," he conceded.
Apollo lightly squeezed his shoulder before removing his hand. "I have informed Percy and Jason of what is going on, and instructed them to stay put. Whether they will heed these warnings, I have no idea. But you must refrain from going after them, lest you too be taken by the mortals," he ordered.
Neither Will nor Nico liked this, but they agreed.
"I must go now, father's going to kill me if he finds out I was here," Apollo said, form beginning to glow. He then looked over to Will before disappearing.
"I'm proud of you, my son. Don't lose hope."
...
"You sure you're okay?" asked Bruce for the seventh time. He had come down a minute after Percy had left and looked around perplexed at the knocked over chairs and huddled group of heroes.
"Yes, I'm fine. It was more of a push than a punch, really," said Jason. Even Jason was started to find that less believable though, as he held an ice pack against his shoulder.
He had protested that he didn't need it, but the forming bruise suggested otherwise. Curse Percy being obnoxiously strong.
"So, what happened exactly?" asked Clint. They had all sat down together after the... incident that just went down, and the Avengers were understandably lost on the matter. So was Jason if he was being honest.
"Yeah. All I know is when I walked in, you and Mr. Angry back there were going at it, wrecking my good furniture," said Tony, looking at his bar table and stools for scratches.
"I... I don't know," confessed Jason, frowning. "Do you know what started it? Maybe you said something?" suggested Steve, a concerned expression on his face.
Jason hesitated. He couldn't exactly say 'oh yes, he was just upset when I told him that I was the one who caused us to get attacked because whenever I use a phone it sends out a signal to monsters that there's a free snack nearby.' Yeah no, Jason was not going to say that.
"I heard Percy say how you got them attacked from playing a game?" questioned Steve when he didn't reply, looking confused. Damn it! Can he read my mind or something?
"I don't know what he was talking about," shrugged Jason, acting oblivious.
"Was he referring to the attack from yesterday? Is that why that monster thing recognised you both?" pressed Clint. Panic! Okay, calm down, they're just speculating. Oh no, they're staring at me. Say something! Now!
"Why would a video game cause some monster to attack us?" Jason asked, laughing nervously. They stared at him. Yeah, they're not buying this.
Steve sighed. "Jason. You and Percy are friends. Good friends from what I've seen from you both being here the last few days. It would take something big to make Percy that angry with you," he said, looking at him sincerely.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking," sighed Jason, before setting down the ice pack and heading out the door.
...
"What just happened?" asked Clint, watching as Jason left. Steve shook his head. "I have no clue. But I want to find out," he said, turning to the group.
Natasha then entered the room, walking up to them and pointing her thumb over her shoulder in the direction Jason had left. "What's up with him?"
"Him and Percy just got into a fight," explained Clint. "They were arguing about something, and Percy ended up shoving Jason a few times."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Would not have guessed that," she said. "Neither would we," stated Bruce, thinking as he spoke.
"From the sounds of it, Percy seemed to blame Jason for some attack. We're thinking he's referring to the monster, H.Y.D.R.A, attack yesterday," explained Clint.
"They were completely fine though up until now," said Bruce. "Someone is always with them, and nothing bad has been reported. They get on great. Even yesterday on the plane, when Jason was comforting Percy."
"Yeah, what was that about by the way?" interjected Tony. "I'm guessing you all heard them talk about someone shooting the plane down because Percy was on it?"
They all nodded, glancing at each other. "Percy sounded genuinely scared. And I could've sworn I heard Percy say something about Jason's dad being the cause of it," remarked Clint.
"I heard that too," agreed Bruce. "But that doesn't make any sense. Jason barely knows his dad, how would Percy? And how can some guy shoot down a plane?"
"We must have been right before when we said their fathers work for this organisation. They would most likely have the fire power to destroy a plane from the middle of the nowhere. Yet they're willing to kill their own sons to eliminate the risk of them telling us the truth," theorised Natasha.
"Maybe that's why they won't tell us anything. They're either so loyal to this organisation, to their dads. Or they're too terrified to find help, and risk punishment. Risk... termination," breathed Clint.
There was silence for a moment, everyone engulfed in their own thoughts, each more horrific than the last.
"This group is dangerous, and obviously very violent, not even showing mercy to their own recruits. Their own children," began Steve. "Maybe they've found a way to get to Percy. Manipulate him into turning against Jason. Maybe their fight was completely unrelated. Either way, something is going on. Something big that we don't know about or understand. But we must find out and put a stop to it. We have to find out the truth of this organisation. To help Percy and Jason, as well as stopping what is happening to them from ever happening again."
Everyone voiced their agreement, nodding simultaneously with firm expressions.
"Should we go talk to them?" asked Clint. "We should wait first. They're both probably still on edge right now and won't respond well to being interrogated. Especially about something this personal," decided Natasha.
"It looked like Jason was going to talk to Percy though. And from how heated he had gotten, it's probably not a good idea to leave them alone," said Tony.
"I'll go and check on them," suggested Bruce. They nodded and watched in silence as he left the room.
...
Jason got into the lift and pressed the floor that would lead him to the bedrooms.
Fury had left the bracelets on them, so they could be kept under better control with less intense supervision. A win-lose, but Jason liked the improved privacy, even if there were cameras constantly trained on them and agents positioned at every exit point.
This meant though that he was able to, on occasion, wander through sections of the tower on his own, or use the lifts. Yes, Jason definitely liked this better.
As the floor numbers changed and Jason stepped out, heading in the direction of his and Percy's rooms, he thought to himself.
Why had Percy gotten so aggressive? So angry! He knocked me back. Looked as though he wanted to fight, and probably would have had the others not stepped in. But Percy is usually so level-headed. At least with his friends. Why would he immediately choose hostility over talking things out?
Jason couldn't understand it, but he wanted to. He needed to. He couldn't let something as stupid as this get between their friendship. They were basically brothers at this point.
He stopped outside Percy's door, his fist hesitating. He may still be angry. Am I pushing it by coming to talk so soon?
After a few moments of debate, he decided he couldn't bare waiting to sort this out. He knocked on the door. No answer.
He tried again, this time calling out. "Percy? You there?"
"Go away, Jason," came his reply through the door. He didn't sound angry like he had downstairs. In fact, he sounded pretty deflated. But there was still a twinge of annoyance in his tone.
Jason sighed. "Come on, man. Don't be like this. We're friends. Family even! Are we really going to let something stupid like this ruin that?"
Again, no reply. "Percy-" he began.
"Hey, you guys, okay?" asked a voice coming up to him. Jason turned to see Bruce stop beside him outside Percy's door. Jason groaned as he leaned on said door.
"He's not speaking to me," grumbled Jason, staring through the walls separating them. "It hasn't been that long. Give him time," assured Bruce.
Jason sighed again. "Yeah, you're probably right," he resigned. He didn't like this, but he knew him not giving Percy any space would help in no way.
"Why don't you head to your room for a bit, let yourself cool down as well," suggested Bruce. Jason hesitated but nodded. Jason was not usually a hot-headed person, but he had a feeling if he tried talking with Percy again so soon, things would not end well.
With no other alternative, he stepped into his own room, right across from the one that refused to open for him.
...
Bruce waited until Jason was gone before knocking on Percy's door.
"What part of go away don't you understand?" snapped the voice from inside. "It's Bruce, Percy."
A pause, then in a more measured tone , "What do you want?"
"Can I come in?" asked Bruce. Percy's scoff could be heard through the door. "Doesn't really matter if I say no, does it? You are one's who control this building," he replied.
"True, but this is your room, and I will only enter if you say so. But I would prefer if you did so we could talk face to face instead of through the walls," said Bruce, honestly. He hoped Percy could hear his sincerity, and would let him in, showing the sureness he had in him.
It seemed to do the trick though, as after only a few moments of hesitation, Percy sighed. "Yeah, fine. You can come in."
The door then slid open, and Bruce walked in.
Percy was lying in his bed, his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling, not acknowledging Bruce's entrance. Bruce carefully walked over to him, looking casually about the room, not wanting to aggravate him.
"Mind if I sit?" he asked. Percy shrugged in response, which Bruce would take as a yes. He sat down on the other end of the bed and relaxed.
"So, that was something," he began. Percy glanced at him. "What?" he asked. "What happened downstairs? The little argument you two had?" explained Bruce.
"Yeah, little," he said, huffing a laugh as he moved up to lean against the headboard of the bed. "Wanna talk about it?" tried Bruce. "What's there to talk about?" Percy replied, shortly.
Bruce shrugged. "Nothing, I suppose. Except maybe for the fact that you blew at your close friend, pushed him, yelled at him, and stormed off right after," Bruce responded, nonchalantly.
Percy was silent, staring straight ahead of him. Bruce waited, sitting quietly, looking about himself.
"I got angry at him," Percy finally said. "But I don't know why." Bruce frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused.
"I don't know exactly. I know why I got angry. But..." said Percy, struggling to explain. Bruce waited patiently.
"I don't know what happened," Percy finally confessed, annoyance clear on his face. "It's like all I was thinking about was what Jason did. Not that he was sorry, or that it wasn't his fault, or how I've done the exact same thing multiple times before; I could only think about what he did, and how it made me feel."
Percy pushed his hands through his hair, blowing raspberries as he did so. "Is Jason mad at me?" he asked, finally looking over at Bruce.
"He didn't seem to be. I think he was just confused more than anything," replied Bruce, hoping to provide some comfort in his answer.
Percy closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the headboard. It was at this point Bruce noticed how tired Percy appeared to be.
He looked completely drained, and there were beads of sweat on his pasty looking forehead. Bruce remembered this is how he looked earlier when he was treating his injury.
He frowned and reached forward, placing the back of his hand on the boy's forehead. Percy jerked away, frowning at him.
"What are you doing?" asked Percy, incredulously. "Are you feeling okay? " asked Bruce, concerned.
"Fine. Why do you ask?" Percy replied, slowly. "You're really warm, I think you might be burning up ," said Bruce, standing up from the bed to walk round closer to him.
Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" groaned Percy. "Who else asked you?" asked Bruce, sceptically.
"Jason, but he was just being dramatic, and he dropped it," answered Percy, looking at Bruce pointedly, who wasn't convinced.
Percy sighed. "Bruce, really I'm fine. I'm just kind of tired after... everything," he said, looking him in the eye.
Bruce was hesitant to let the matter drop. He really didn't look good, but he supposed if he rested now he could check on him later.
"Okay. But get some sleep now, then," he said. Percy nodded, and Bruce took this as his cue to leave.
He turned and headed to the door. It opened, but before he stepped out, he turned back to look at Percy, still sitting on his bed.
"We will be having dinner around 6 o'clock," he stated. "Got it," responded Percy, saluting as the doors closed.
Bruce hesitated for a moment outside the door, but eventually walked back to the lift to rejoin the others.
But he couldn't shake the bad feeling that was clawing at his mind.
Something's not right.