Percy put his head in his arms and stared sullenly at the television. "I don't even understand what an Accords is," he whined into his arm, too frustrated to check himself.
"I had to take a couple classes in international law," Foggy said, arm slung around Sally's shoulders, staring at the news reel with clear worry written all over his face. "I could probably explain it to you if you want."
"Please," Sally said before Percy could, reaching over to mute the television.
"So, uh, a treaty is any legally binding agreement between multiple nations," Foggy said, leaning heavily on Sally as he wrinkled his forehead in concentration. "But it can be called a bunch of things, mostly depending on how formal it is, and one of those things is an accords."
"So an accord is a type of treaty," Sally translated, to Percy's relief. Foggy smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, sorry, I might be getting a little technical," he said. "I blame Matt. Anyway, yeah. An accords specifically is basically just – every country that wants to, in this case one hundred and seventeen countries, signs an agreement to all follow the same set of rules. If you remember the Paris Agreement, that was an accords signed this year to combat climate change. Same type of treaty. Both of you with me?"
"More or less," Sally agreed, visibly mulling it over, and Percy put his cheek on his arm. He was pretty sure he was too stupid to understand this.
"No," he mumbled. Foggy gestured, and Percy hesitated, kicked at nothing, and then said tentatively, "Um, but no one agreed to do anything. I mean, not as a country anyway. They're making the Avengers do stuff."
Foggy snapped his fingers in understanding, giving Percy a grin that made him relax before he realized it. "Ah, I get why you're confused. It's not exclusively an Avengers rule, they're just the main people of interest right now – I haven't gotten to look at the whole thing, it's not been officially released, but the Accords themselves deal with basically everything that's been cropping up over the last couple of years. Metahumans, artificial intelligence, aliens, all of that stuff. It's been a long time coming, honestly."
Sally pursed her lips in silent disapproval, and Percy pushed himself bolt upright, eyes wide with panic. "But what about camp?" he blurted out. "I mean, if no one is allowed to, and we can't, and Kronos-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Foggy said, sliding off the couch to sit level with Percy, just a little closer. "You're fine, okay, I promise. American citizens on American soil. No one's getting in trouble for slashing monsters with swords." He waited for Percy to take a breath and nod, and then continued, "As an agreement, the Accords is basically a promise to persecute a metahuman acting on international soil the same as you would, say, someone with a bomb. Because we can't have people with the ability to blow up buildings wandering around blowing up buildings in other countries no matter how they do it."
"Isn't that like... already a rule?" Percy asked warily. Foggy waved a hand and shrugged.
"Uh, kinda? Some domestic laws got rushed into place once it became an issue. But it's a bigger deal, diplomatically, if an American citizen blows up a Nigerian city than if an American citizen blows up an American city. They're both bad, but only the first one is grounds for war."
"Oh," Percy said quietly. He tried to wrap his brain around all of that. It was kind of a lot.
"It hasn't seemed like that so far," Sally said, face lined with exhaustion she didn't deserve – all because of Percy, obviously. "It sounds like they're trying to forbid the Avengers from acting without permission at all."
Foggy made a wiggling motion with one hand, frowning. "Yeah, but realistically, Americans acting on American soil is a domestic issue, so the UN just plain isn't going to get involved. No one declares war because someone blew up their own city and didn't do anything about it. So it should only come into play if it starts affecting other countries, like, you know, like Ultron."
"And the review board?" Sally asked.
"For multinational disasters, I guess," Foggy said, brow furrowed in concentration. "I mean, what happened to Sokovia is a tragedy, but the Avengers definitely needed to be there, or else the Earth would be a floating cloud of rubble. But you also wouldn't send a fleet of American tanks into a country and expect them not to get upset about it, even if you say they're owned privately and not by the government."
"Ughh," Percy groaned, covering his face. "This is giving me a headache."
"Yeah, that was pretty much how I felt all through law school," Foggy said, amused. Surprised, Percy smiled against his arm, and Foggy continued, "Anyway, as long as whatever you're doing doesn't put the rest of the world at risk, you should be good to go."
Percy's smile disappeared.
"Great," Percy muttered, wishing he could sink right into the ground until he fell into the Underworld. "Now it's a crime for me to be alive in the mortal world too."
"Um," Foggy said, looking guilty, which meant that Percy was right.
Then the UN blew up.
"Cap." Tony grasped Steve's forearm before he could walk away, and while Steve's lips pressed tightly together, he didn't break the grip. He just looked at Tony, eyes hard. "I'm sorry, okay? I know this sucks, I know you're worried your hands are gonna be tied when you need them most, I know 'give up' isn't anywhere in your vocabulary- but Cap, we need you here. You know what's coming. You know how long we have. We need you here, not on the run thousands of miles from the fight."
"A hell of a lot of good I'll do near the fight if I have to wait for permission to get involved," Steve said sharply.
"Olympus is in New York," Tony said desperately, tightening his grip as if he had a chance in hell of keeping Steve here if he wanted to walk away. "Every path out of the Underworld, out of Tartarus, is in America. Camp Half-Blood is there, Typhon is there, Atlas, the gods aren't US citizens and I think would technically be considered aliens too- legally, it's domestic, Cap, the UN won't get involved. Carte blanche."
"If it means so much to you," Steve hissed back, "then stop this."
"I know I'm richer than Hades, but I don't actually have the power to overrule 117 countries," Tony snapped. "We don't have to agree on whether the Accords are right, okay? I just need you to sign that piece of paper that says you acknowledge they exist." Quieter, "Please, Steve. You know who'll take the fall if we can't do it first."
Steve met Tony's eyes. "Swear on the Styx."
"Swear what?" Tony asked, not breaking eye contact.
"Swear that when it comes down to the wire, you're not going to choose the Accords," Steve said. "You're going to save the world."
"I swear on the river Styx," Tony said without hesitation.
Thunder rumbled. Steve pulled away, and Tony let him.
Steve picked up the pen, leaned down, and signed the Accords.
"Thank you," Tony said, with more relief than he'd thought possible. He dropped back in his seat, rubbing his face as the ache of exhaustion hit him. Everything was going to be fine, he just had to do some quick work with the legals to get everyone out of this, and then they'd be... back to normal.
Steve was already heading back to the office he'd been confined to, where Sam was leaning back, looking frustrated, and Sharon was just heading toward them. On the monitors, the UN psychological evaluator was introducing himself to Barnes.
Everything was going to be fine.
One of the security men jumped sharply. "Where the hell did she come from?" he demanded, and Tony looked up, searching the monitors until his spine straightened in alarm.
"Lady Demeter," Tony murmured, trying to puzzle out her reason for coming all the way to Berlin. But an acute, painful sort of hope was dawning on Steve's face. "Rogers?"
"Bucky is a son of Persephone," he said quietly. Outside the cell, the security people were getting more and more upset as Demeter strode carelessly through the building without stopping; the people who tried to approach her couldn't even get close.
"Not the first one I would have picked," Tony said without thinking, earning a dirty look from Steve. Tony raised his hands apologetically. "I'm gonna- uh, we should head down before someone gets vaporized." Not a chance in hell Steve was gonna stay back for this.
"Oh, hell, I forgot that the gods were like that," Sharon said.
"Yeah, good for you," Tony said dryly, and took off.
They managed to catch up with her about halfway to Bucky's cell, around the same time a bunch of security people did; Sharon put herself to work herding them back, and Tony and Steve both hastily knelt, just enough in Demeter's way that she had to acknowledge them.
"Lady Demeter," Tony murmured, echoed by Steve.
Demeter slowed to a halt, crossing her arms to give them a faintly annoyed look. The dried grasses in her dark hair fluttered slightly in the air conditioning.
"Nephew," she greeted curtly, not acknowledging Steve's presence at all. "I've no time to dally; my daughter promised she'd let me feed her as long as I liked if I took care of... this... little issue for her."
Right on time, Everett Ross came pushing through the crowd, brushing Sharon off entirely before marching brashly up to Demeter – though, Tony noticed, he stopped more than a comfortable distance away. Instinct, probably.
"I don't know how you got in here, but you can't be here," Ross said sternly. Sharon winced. "This is a highly restricted UN... facility..."
That, Tony gathered, was about when he noticed that Tony and Steve were kneeling, and that Sam and Natasha, newly arrived, were moving to do the same. Everett's eyes flickered back to Demeter, suddenly much more wary, and then, slowly, knelt down as well without finishing his sentence.
Everett Ross was quicker on the uptake than his father was, Tony gathered.
Demeter scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"The United Nations," she said disdainfully. "Please, as if you have any more power now than you did a hundred years ago." She transferred her gaze back to Tony. "What do you want? As I said, I have business."
"Lady Demeter," Tony said carefully, ignoring Everett's quiet gasp, the security guards slowly easing back as if in subconscious fear. "Can I make a request? Our legal situation is... pretty tenuous right now, and it'll be easier to resolve if you leave Barnes here. Please. And don't vaporize anybody on your way out."
"Tch." Demeter glanced around the room, visibly unimpressed by the glass walls and tech around her. "This is no place for any grandson of mine. It looks more like one of Hephaestus' awful little hellholes. Perhaps..."
She snapped her fingers. Parts of the walls and floor cracked open as roots and stems grew into the building, and soon the sterile office environment was blooming with English ivy, blackberries, and sunflowers. Everett glanced around wildly, like they would dematerialize if he looked at enough of them.
"It'll do," she said dismissively. She looked back at Tony. "Where is James being kept? I have a gift for him before I go."
"I'll take you there, my lady," Steve said quickly, before Tony could. He was already rising to his feet, and Demeter glanced at him.
"Fine," she said, and caught up with Steve to head for the room where an oblivious psychologist was still gently speaking to Barnes.
Seeing Everett rising to his feet, looking uneasy, Tony dropped back.
"Don't ask questions yet," he said quietly, before Everett could open his mouth. "Greek gods are... pretty temperamental, and don't have a lot of patience. We'll talk later, okay? Okay."
Everett's face contorted in indignation, but he kept his mouth shut. Tony breathed a sigh of relief, and moved to catch up with Demeter and Steve.
Everything could be fixed, Tony reminded himself. Things were getting more complicated by the moment, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
They reached Barnes' cell, and Everett's breath hitched as Demeter snapped her fingers again, forcing the door to slam open ahead of them. The psychologist inside was cut off mid-sentence, looking up in alarm, and Demeter ignored him to focus on the containment unit in the middle. She sneered.
"Mortals are so uncivilized," she said with disdain, and snapped. The door to the cell popped open, and so did all of Bucky's restraints. Bucky blinked at her, then lifted his hands and flexed them, staring at the fingers like they were a dream. "The only half-blood son of spring's bounty, and this is how they treat him? Such appalling savagery."
Everett jerked when the restraints popped open. Tony silently credited him for his self-control.
"Lady Demeter, he's been brainwashed," Steve said quickly, afraid she would cut him off. "Is there anything you can-"
"Yes, yes," she said impatiently, and reached into the folds of her dress. The security folk coming up behind Tony stirred, but all she withdrew was a small bread roll, studded with seeds. She held it out, and blinking owlishly, Bucky accepted and stared at it. "Eat it. It's a specialty of Hestia and myself. It should heal the damage done to your mind."
Bucky looked up at her, stared for a moment, and then devoured the bread roll with desperation that was frankly sad. Demeter nodded, then looked at the psychologist.
"Your services are no longer necessary," she said curtly. "Shoo."
That wasn't quite the end of it – the psychologist turned out to be an infiltrator, the power popped off and Demeter irritably turned it back on, and Bucky needed to be recontained in a friendlier, Demeter-approved cell full of flowers and blackberries – but it was close enough.
Then Demeter left, leaving them holding the big, icky, Greek-myth-shaped ball. Typical.
"Where's Clint when you need him?" Tony complained, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to decide on an approach that would work for the situation. "It's a time-honored tradition for demigods to explain this shit to mortals."
"You're three-eighths divine, Tony," Natasha deadpanned. "It's really not that much of a difference."
"Can I quote you on that?"
"Focus, Tony," Steve said, exasperated, and for a moment it was like they were back at the tower. Tony grinned, stretched, and turned back to Everett Ross and the small swarm of other UN parties that had shown up – including King T'Challa, eyes narrowed and lips pursed as he considered them with calculation, and the German representative, Elias Wagner.
"So," Tony said, "I'd apologize for Lady Demeter, but honestly that was pretty accommodating for her. She's in a good mood because her daughter just got back, I think."
"You were certainly quick enough to defer to her," T'Challa pointed out, lacing his fingers together. "Who was she precisely? I am afraid I have very little background in Ancient Greek religion."
"Demeter, goddess of the harvest," Tony explained. "Hence the..." He waved vaguely at all of the plants, which had probably caused thousands of dollars in structural damage. "The Greek gods are a lot more- aloof than their Norse cousins. Standoffish, you know. They're quick to take offense and they can, in fact, kill you with a snap of their fingers. Best to treat them with caution." He shrugged. "Try not to worry about them too much. The odds are good that you'll never meet one again. Even their children see the gods only rarely."
"We're just supposed to go back to normal, knowing that actual gods exist?" Everett demanded incredulously. Rhodey snorted.
"You did last time, didn't you?" he countered, amused. "Really, seriously, the gods have nothing to do with you, they hang out in their domains and do their jobs and have a bunch of kids. If you gotta worry about something, worry about demigods, because those are the ones you'll actually run into."
"I suppose demigods would fall into the general category of human-plus," Everett frowned, looking actually focused on the conversation. "Is that right?"
"More or less," Steve confirmed. "It varies by parentage, but demigods run the gamut from well-trained humans to Thor's level of power, leaning toward the former."
"And why do we need to worry about them?" Elias prompted, eyes narrowed. "Where would one encounter a demigod?"
Tony waved a hand. "Wherever. More likely than not, you'll find them fighting or avoiding monsters, since demigods spend most of their lives trying not to get eaten. Otherwise, they'll be going to school, work, shopping at the grocery store..."
"They're more likely than not to be in America these days," Steve added. "Olympus and Camp Half-Blood, where demigods get trained, move with the heart of western civilization. In my day they moved between America and Britain at least once a week, but I understand they've settled now."
"And Barnes is a demigod," T'Challa said, eyes gleaming with a hunter's glint. "Or perhaps the child of one. Demeter called him her grandson."
"A child of Persephone," Steve agreed. "He's never had more power than it takes to make a rosebush bloom, but he loved Camp Half-Blood." He shot a worried look down the hall. "I wonder if he even remembers that now..."
"If we're lucky, it's all uphill from here," Tony said. "We already know Demeter's blessing reversed the brainwashing HYDRA put him through. Maybe his memory will start to recover too." He glanced at the others. "I'll be covering his legal fees, obviously."
"Obviously," Everett echoed dryly, and leaned back. "Are there any more demigods we're likely to have heard of?"
"Peggy Carter is... was a daughter of Zeus," Steve offered, voice softening with melancholy. "Hawkeye is a son of Apollo. Maria Stark was a daughter of Athena, and Howard Stark was a grandson of Hephaestus."
"Three-eighths divine," T'Challa recalled, glancing at Tony. Tony smirked and nodded.
"And if you were following the coverage a couple years ago, Percy Jackson was actually a demigod on a really messy quest," he put in, mostly toward Everett. "The final story in mortal media was that he and his friends got kidnapped and taken cross-country, but the real situation was a lot more complicated. That sort of thing's where you're most likely to see a demigod."
"Speaking of Percy," Natasha cut in, glancing up from her phone, "can one of you boys tell him that human governments don't execute people for being born? Sally says he's been in a funk since Foggy explained the Accords to him, and that was days ago now."
Steve gave Tony a look. Tony raised his hands defensively.
"I didn't write them!" he said irritably. "I'll talk to the kid. It might be comforting to walk him through some of the basic human rights accords mortal governments follow. Refreshing change from the gods."
"Excuse me, why would the Accords care about a child?" Elias asked, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "You speak as if his concern is legitimate."
"It kind of is," Tony admitted. "The situation's complicated, but his sixteenth birthday is going to hail a major threat to Olympus, which means a major threat for western civilization. Prophecies, you know. That's technically going to fall under the category of multinational threat, but." He shot them a sharp look. "Humans don't execute people for being born, right?"
"Exceptions can be made," Everett said, without meeting his eyes. Tony pressed a hand down on the table and leaned over.
"Percy is fourteen years old," he said. "He likes blue candy when he's upset, because it reminds him of his mom. He named a mythological cow serpent Bessie while he was untangling it from a fish net. He has ADHD and dyslexia so severe that he takes all of his exams orally. His middle school exams, because he's in eighth grade. I can keep going if you need me to pile on the guilt."
Everett, who hadn't looked thrilled by the prospect in the first place, now looked a little sick. Good.
"This was the fight you mentioned to Mr. Rogers," T'Challa said, meeting Tony's eyes. Tony nodded.
"It's becoming pretty clear that the threat is gonna be Kronos," Tony said. "He's already building up his army. We're gonna need all hands on deck for that. Percy turns sixteen the August after next, but the actual fight will probably begin before that."
"It is good that we have advance warning, then," T'Challa said evenly.
"Bucky," Chiron murmured, his old eyes soft as he reached out to squeeze Bucky's arm. "It's rare that I get to see a student again after so much time has passed. It is a privilege to see that you yet live."
Bucky hesitated, not quite meeting Chiron's eyes. "I..." His voice still rasped from disuse.
"Bucky doesn't remember much, Chiron," Steve cut in, stepping forward apologetically. "He's still readjusting after his... his ordeal."
Chiron nodded solemnly. "Of course. Still, for a half-blood, it is an indescribable triumph just to survive another year." He smiled at Bucky, small and understanding. "No matter what else has happened, you are still alive, and I am happier for it."
He turned his head to look at the rest of them, a good few heads higher than most of the visitors. Percy, shorter than any of them, fidgeted with Riptide while Chiron contemplated his deep thoughts before letting them inside. Meanwhile, the year-round half-bloods stared with varying amounts of confusion and wariness; it was hard to be starstruck once you had met the gods, but equally hard to overlook the crowd of Avengers in the middle of camp.
"Let us go inside," Chiron said at last, turning with a fluid grace unsuited to his awkward shape. "Annabeth and Mr. D are waiting."
"I told you he doesn't love me anymore," Clint informed Tony, elbowing him while Tony rolled his eyes. Clint grinned. "I figure he knows he's not getting rid of me. I gotta come back and bully the kids."
"With the barrier in place, none of the half-bloods that leave visit quite as often as they used to," Chiron said, a melancholy tint to his voice making both Tony and Clint look up at him. "It is both a boon and a disappointment. We are blessed that our camp is safe enough that no one need return to help guard the children, but I do miss seeing them return safely."
Tony and Clint exchanged a look.
"Yeah, okay, I'm overdue a visit," Tony mumbled. Chiron looked over his shoulder to give Tony a soft smile, and Tony brightened like a child receiving praise.
Percy dropped to the back of the group out of habit, and then brightened when he saw Annabeth sitting at the table, legs pulled up and a book sitting on her knees. Without hesitation, he went to sit beside her, and she closed the book immediately to give him an exasperated look.
"What have you been getting up to since I last saw you?" she demanded under her breath, smacking him with her book.
He gave her a sheepish grin. "Uh, stuff?"
She shook her head, looking fond despite herself. "Whatever. You can tell me later."
It looked like a much more informal gathering than it was. Tony had sprawled in his chair like a teenager, and Clint had moved his so he could sit backward. Steve had placed himself well away from both Chiron and Mr. D, looking uncomfortable, and was the only one sitting beside Bucky. Mr. D was playing on a handheld console. Pac-Man, from the sound of it.
"So," Tony said, leaning back in his chair. "Thanks to that stunt Demeter pulled in Germany, the cat's halfway out of the bag, and there's no putting it back. Half a dozen international diplomats and closer to two dozen high-ranking American officials know that a Greek goddess waltzed through the embassy's security and freed the Winter Soldier with a snap of her fingers. It won't be long before everyone who's anyone knows what's what."
"Good job, Stark," Clint deadpanned. Tony scowled at him.
"Excuse me, how is this my fault?"
"Those damn Accords-"
"Which were not my idea!"
"You supported them!"
"Children," Chiron said sharply, and they both fell silent. He exhaled, lowering his head to frown in thought. "It has been so long since the divine world has interacted openly with its mortal counterpart. Perhaps it is Fate that we should come around to that openness once again."
"So we're just gonna let it happen?" Clint asked. "It's like you said. Demigods have been keeping this secret for centuries now. The Mist can probably fix it, and we'll be back to normal. No problem."
"Most likely," Chiron acknowledged. "Damage control is still well within our reach at this stage. But I believe our two youngest have some input on the matter."
Everyone looked at Percy and Annabeth, and Percy flinched. Annabeth held their gazes calmly.
"I think we should do it," she said, grey eyes sharp and calculating. "Let the Mist die. It's an old system." She softened a little, glancing over to Chiron. "I'll admit, it made sense when the world seemed ordinary. If we demigods were the first metahumans to make ourselves known, it would have gone badly. We would have scared them. But now there's aliens, mutants, super soldiers, even other gods- we'll just be part of the crowd. And it'll mean we can ask for help."
"What do you mean?" Steve asked, unexpectedly soft. Annabeth crossed her arms, defensive and uncomfortable.
"The Mist keeps us isolated," she said plainly. "Our secrecy keeps us isolated. We can't ask mortals for help or even understanding when a monster destroys our homework because no one knows about the monsters. We can't find half-bloods in time because most people don't know what to look for, won't even know what their child is until it's too late." She shrugged. "I think there's room for growth here. If we bring our world into the open, then we won't have to waste so much time hiding."
"What do you think, Percy?" Chiron asked. Percy started.
"Me?" he said, surprised. "Uh, I think it's a good idea, I guess. I mean, do you know how many times I've gotten expelled 'cause of the Mist? It really sucks to get in trouble for attacking a teacher when the teacher attacked you first. Quests, too. If we could've just walked in and told Nico and Bianca's teachers that they were half-bloods..." He shrugged, ducking his head to hide his expression. "I mean, we'd have new problems if we came out and told the truth. But it would solve a lot too."
"They both make good points," Tony said. "If we negotiate it right, we might even be able to stack the deck in our favor. People are starting to complain about the treatment of metahumans, especially after the Accords, and we might be able to convince them to use Camp Half-Blood to drum up some good PR."
"I don't see how this helps us," Clint said, audibly disgusted. "I don't want Camp Half-Blood being used for anything. I'm surprised you do, Stark."
Tony waved a hand dismissively. "The wording isn't important. The important thing is that, if we can convince officials that protecting half-bloods would look good for them, then we might be able to get them to do it." He shrugged. "Demigods are practically tailor-made for the purpose, honestly – almost all children, about eighty percent of them have no obvious powers, and it mostly just puts them in danger."
"It seems like a bit of a gamble, though," Clint countered. "Look at the garbage they just passed; they could just as easily decide to screw us over again. And we don't know what the gods will think of the idea."
A heartbeat's pause passed, and then everyone looked at Mr. D. It seemed to take Dionysus a moment to notice, and then he just glanced up and snorted at them.
"Do you really think the gods care what the mortal world knows?" he asked scornfully. "Do as you like. Certainly Hermes could use less work."
He went back to his game.
"Alright, that's our input from the gods," Clint said dryly. "I don't know why I expected anything different."
"What do you think, Buck?" Steve asked, soft. Bucky tilted his head, looked at Steve, then at Chiron, then at Percy and Annabeth. Percy couldn't tell if he was thinking or disoriented. Bucky always seemed to be a little (or a lot) of both.
"Children should be protected," he said after a moment. Another second passed, and then he glanced at the two children and added, "Half-bloods shouldn't have to fight alone."
"That settles it, then," Tony said, because he knew Steve and he knew Clint. "I guess we better get ready for a grand reveal."