Everyone stood in silence in the lab, a hushed anxiety coating the air as they impatiently waited for the results.
Bruce had managed to set up one of the machines so it would be able to scan for the disease without him having to look at them all individually. Now, they just had to wait, which proved to be the most difficult thing to do, seeing as how unnerved everyone was.
Bruce and Steve had left Jason in the medical room to give him some space. He insisted on them leaving, wanting some time to himself to process what he had just learnt, and they were too crushed with how hopeless he seemed to deny his request.
When they exited the room, Natasha, Tony and Clint all stood to attention, awaiting the any news the two might provide. Sadly, it was not the outcome they hoped to hear.
"And there's nothing you can do?" asked Natasha for what seemed to be the fifth time, glancing at Bruce, who simply shook his head in response.
"Not as far as I'm aware. This is not like anything I have ever seen before. There's something... off, about it," stated Bruce, brow furrowed in thought.
"Well obviously," said Tony, rolling his eyes. "Did you see the effects this thing had on Percy?"
"I mean the actual substance itself. It seems so... unnatural," decided Bruce. He shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm not giving up. No matter what Jason says, we will find a cure. We have to. Otherwise..."
They'll die.
They were all thinking it, so Bruce didn't finish. He didn't need to, they all knew.
"And no one has survived this?" clarified Clint, looking at both Bruce and Steve hopefully.
The pair shook their heads. "Jason said it's deadly, with a 100% kill rate," said Steve, lowly.
"Oh my God," muttered the archer, letting his head fall back against the wall.
There was a pause, then, "Hey," began Clint, standing a little straighter as a thought came to him. They all looked over at him.
"Jason said that this all started only recently, yet it had already managed to infect and kill so many people," stated Clint.
"Yeah," confirmed Natasha. "He said it was highly contagious, probably airborne."
"So, if something this deadly had broken out, why haven't we heard of it?" asked Clint.
"Wouldn't something this serious be broadcast to the public? Or at the very least, wouldn't Shield, and therefore us, have heard about it?" he pressed.
The silence rang out as everyone took in and thought about this new information.
"Yeah," agreed Steve, slowly. "We would have."
"So, why haven't we?" asked Clint, ominously.
They all shared a look.
"It has only happened at this camp," Tony thought out loud, trying to piece it all together. "Where they have been able to develop and turn children into superpowered soldiers for years without anyone knowing."
"Where the kids are so threatened, they fear execution should they make a mistake," continued Natasha, worry intensifying within her.
"Where they clearly have the capability to do as they wish to the world, unleash their power on whoever opposes them," added Steve, his voice just above a whisper.
"With no apparent way to stop them," finished Bruce, causing them to all draw their eyes upwards to meet one another.
"If they were able to do all this, is it really so unbelievable to think they would be able to create a deadly plague? One that's able to spread and kill in such a short amount of time?" asked Clint, a strained look on his face.
"No," responded Bruce. "It isn't."
"You don't actually think someone would create something like this though, do you?" Tony asked no one in particular. "I mean, from the sounds of it, so far it has only managed to affect people who are currently at this 'camp', meaning all they've done is kill off their own forces. Why would they do that? It's only hurting themselves."
"No, it's hurting the kids. As punishment," said Natasha, her eyes going wide with realisation. "As we have said, it seems that execution is a likely result if mistakes are made. Percy and Jason have said before about how long they have been taking children to be apart of their army, so I'm guessing they don't have a limited supply of candidates. Meaning, they have some to spare."
Natasha said this with such disgust and anger the others seemed to back away slightly to be out of her punching range.
"We can't let this go on," decided Steve. "I agree," said Bruce, nodding. "This is abuse, endangerment."
"But what do we do," began Tony, "if, as the odds suggest, we have this plague?"
A 'ping' sounded next to them, as the machine with each of their blood samples finished its analysis.
Their heads whipped round to stare at the source of the noise. After a moment's hesitation, Bruce slowly walked over to the machine.
Everyone held their breath, though they all knew it was pointless. The odds of them having not contracted the virus by this stage were basically nought. Still, they waited breathlessly for Bruce to confirm their dread.
The silence was drawn out much longer than anyone expected, though. Then, without turning to face them, Bruce spoke.
"Oh my God," he muttered. They all glanced nervously at each other, before Natasha stepped forward.
"Bruce? What is it?" she asked, hesitantly.
Bruce didn't say anything, so Natasha edged forward and gently nudged him out of the way so she could see for herself what had Bruce so stricken.
"Bruce, what-" she stopped as soon as she looked down at the screen. Her eyes widened.
"Oh my God," she said, echoing Bruce. "What is it?" pressed Tony.
She turned to face them.
"You guys won't believe this."
...
Jason sat in the med bay, staring absentmindedly at the floor.
I have the plague. I have the disease. I'm going to die. I'm not going to be able to save Percy, save anyone. Me and Percy are both going to die-
He was thankfully brought out of his crowding thoughts by a knocking on the door, the voices in his mind disappearing as the door opened.
He looked up to see Steve, Bruce, Tony, Natasha and Clint walk in. Jason looked at them with a tired, dark look, his whole body slack on the chair he was sitting in.
He felt so hopeless. There was nothing he could do. What was the point in pretending or putting on a happy face?
"Jason." Jason blinked to clear his thoughts and looked up to see them all staring at him.
"We have the results back from the lab," explained Bruce, holding up a folder.
Jason grimaced. "I'm so sorry, guys," he said, looking down. Now I have infected the freaking Avengers! Could things get any worse?
The file appeared in his vision. Jason glanced up at Bruce before hesitantly taking the folder from him. "Read it," said Bruce, gesturing to the papers in his hand.
Jason groaned. "I already know what the virus looks like. I'm sorry I infected you all, but please don't make me-"
"Just read it," insisted Bruce, nodding at the item in his hands as assurance. Jason peered at it for a moment before sighing and opening the file. That's how mad they are at me, forcing me to look at what I've done to them.
He carefully lifted out the results page, read the information and-
Jason frowned and read it again, and again, and again. He went through the summary of the procedure process. Everything was done right. He triple checked the final results. It all seems normal.
But nothing about what he was reading was normal, because it didn't make sense.
"You... you aren't infected," he whispered.
He looked up to see if they were messing with him, but instead, they were all smiling at him knowingly.
His eyes widened. "You are not sick. None if you are sick," he stated in disbelief.
"That's right," said Bruce, the grin on his face growing as Jason sat there in complete and utter shock.
"But how?" questioned Jason. "There is no way that none of you contracted the illness the entire time we've been here."
His breath caught in his throat. "Get back," he stuttered, edging himself away from the group. "If you didn't have it already, you will get it now if you don't get away from me."
"Woah, Jason it's okay," said Steve, putting his heads out in a peaceful gesture. "We don't think we're going to get sick."
Jason stopped his movements and peered at him sceptically. "What do you mean?"
Bruce stepped over to him and sat down on a chair so he wouldn't be towering over the boy.
"We think we may be immune," he said.
Jason stared at him. "But-"
"I know it's sounding a bit optimistic but let me explain. When I looked at the samples, and saw there were no traces of the illness, I knew there must be something different about our blood. So, I took each of the blood swabs and merged them with the disease we found in your own blood," explained Bruce.
Jason continued to look at him, not understanding where he was going with this.
"I did this because I wanted to see if we really were immune, or if we had just gotten lucky. Once that was done, I observed how the two samples reacted, but nothing happened," he finished.
Jason frowned. "What do you mean, 'nothing happened'?"
"I mean, the virus didn't contaminate any of our samples. It wouldn't merge, as if it didn't even know our blood was there," Bruce elaborated. "Jason, this is a major breakthrough! It could help us find a cure!"
Jason sat there speechless. A cure? Is it really possible?
Yet, something didn't feel right about this. It seemed... too easy. The facts were right in front of him though, so he was probably just being paranoid. Still, there was something about this that made him hesitate. Like this wasn't the answer...
He shook his head. What am I thinking? The chance for a cure is right in front of me, and here I am being sceptical and hesitant?
He looked up at them, the hope shining in his eyes, a grin growing on his face as he decided.
"Let's get started."
...
"What are you doing here?" asked Leo, sceptically, narrowing his eyes at the man before him.
"That's not a very welcoming way to greet your father, boy," replied Hephaestus, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows expectantly.
"Well, I don't see you enough so I can work on my greetings," said Leo, an edge to his tone.
Hephaestus looked at him curiously before sighing. "We are very busy on Olympus, and don't have enough time to go down for earthly visits. In fact, I will not be able to stay here much longer."
Leo squinted at him. "Why would you not-"
He stopped when he saw how translucent his father appeared to be, like he was just a hologram of himself. "What's wrong with you?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"I don't have enough time to explain, so you must listen to me very carefully, Leo," said Hephaestus, looking at him seriously now.
Leo swallowed but nodded, worry growing more and more. What in Tartarus could be going on?
"I'm afraid that not long after your departure from Camp Half-Blood, something terrible happened. Something that is still happening," explained Hepheastus.
"What? What is it?" pushed Leo. The god was fading more and more by the second.
"Gaia-" Hephaestus grimaced as though he were in pain.
Leo glanced a Calypso who mirrored his confused and worried expression.
"Dad, what is going on?" he asked frantically. Would he just say it already? Honestly if this is going to be one of those cliché scenarios where a character is about to reveal very crucial information but doesn't get to because they die or leave beforehand-
Hephaestus grunted, shutting his eyes as he swayed slightly.
He opened his eyes and looked sadly at his son. "Our powers are fading," he said.
"Who?" asked Leo. "The gods," replied Hephaestus, gravely.
"What?! Can that even happen?" How?" questioned Leo. He had no idea what was going on, but it was obviously something big if his dad came all the way here to warn him, and now was looking as though he were about to die or something!
Can gods die? I don't know, maybe. Leo was still relatively new to this whole mythological world, give him a break.
"It happens when there is no one left to remember or believe in us," Haphaestus explained, slowly.
Leo froze, his eyes widening as those words rolled through his head. No left to remember or believe?
"But, the demigods. How could they forget or not believe their own parents exist? I mean lose faith in them sure, you guys are terrible at keeping in touch or showing any kind of love whatsoever-"
"Leo!" interrupted Calypso. Leo glanced over to see that his father who was now almost completely gone.
He gasped, but Hephaestus cut in before he could get another word out.
"Leo, my son," he said. He began to glow as he transformed into his true godly form. He reached out and touched Festus' metal, looking at him fondly and with what Leo thought might be pride, before turning back and facing his son. His eyes held such sincerity, yet also so much seriousness Leo was paralysed under his gaze.
His father began to glow as his true self was about to be revealed.
Just as Leo and Calypso raised their hands to cover their eyes and look away, Leo heard his father's last departing words that sent a chill down his spine.
"You are the key."
...
They pulled back their hands away from their eyes to see they were alone once more.
"What just happened?" asked Calypso, staring at the spot once occupied by the god of blacksmiths and fire.
"I have no idea," replied Leo, in a similar state of shock. What had any of that meant?
"He said the gods were fading," remembered Calypso. "Because people were no longer here to remember them. Or, they wouldn't be here."
Leo furrowed his brow. "Hephaestus said something terrible was going on. Something that's draining their power." His eyes widened. "No," he whispered.
"What?" asked Calypso, sounding worried.
"My friends," said Leo, distantly. "They're demigods. Their faith and remembrance of the gods is a source of their power. So, the only reason the gods would be losing their power, is if there wasn't anyone left to remember them."
"Oh my gods," whispered Calypso, reaching an arm out to grasp Leo's shoulder in comfort.
Leo's expression turned from one of worry to a deep glare. "No, that can't be everything. We must be missing something."
Calypso squeezed his shoulder, giving him a sad smile. "Leo, I know how awful this must be, but from the sounds of it, your friends might be-"
"No! I refuse to believe they're gone," Leo said, angrily. He stormed forwards to Festus, prepping the dragon for departure.
"Leo wait!" called Calypso, hurrying after him. "I agree with you," she said before he could argue. "I'm sure they're all okay, but as you said, this can't be everything. Hephaestus definitely wasn't able to tell us everything he needed to. If we charge in with no idea what is actually going on, it will not end well. We need to be smart about this."
Leo paused before sighing heavily and turning back to face her. "Darn it, you're right," he admitted, begrudgingly.
Calypso smirked. "When am I not?" she joked.
Leo smiled at her before refocusing on the matter at hand.
"Well, my first instinct is to go back to camp, but I have a bad feeling. Something is telling me to stay away," said Leo, thinking hard. He desperately wanted to go back and help his friends, but his gut was telling him that it would do more harm than good. So begrudgingly, he decided to stay away. For now.
"Trust your gut. I have a feeling it's usually right," encouraged Calypso, looking at him kindly.
Leo nodded. "Okay, no camp then," he decided. "So, where do we go?" asked Calypso.
"I don't know," admitted Leo, moving to lean on Festus, who was lying comfortably on the sand, not paying them much attention. "I can't think of anywhere else to-"
Leo gasped as his hand made contact with the metal and Calypso vanished before him. In fact, the whole island vanished.
Leo whipped his head around, but all he saw was darkness. Then, out of the gloom, a shape started to form. It was distant at first, but seemed to be getting closer. It was tall, and looked like a building. A very modern looking one, with a large symbol on the front.
Leo sucked in a breath as he fell to his knees on the sand. Calypso rushed to his side.
"What happened? Are you okay?" she said, distressed. She looked at him with those beautiful, worried eyes of hers.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," muttered Leo, breathing slowly to compose himself. He took a deep breath before picking himself up and walking quickly over to Festus, climbing onto his back.
"Wait, what's happening?" asked Calypso, confused. Leo reached out a hand to help her up.
She accepted, and soon they were both aboard the now eager-to-leave dragon. "We're going," Leo said vaguely.
"Where?" asked Calypso, brow furrowed.
"Honestly, I have no idea."