The room was engulfed in silence as everyone stared at Bruce, their eyes expressing the true sense of disbelief they all collectively felt.
No one said anything for a full minute at least, too stuck in their own state of shock to really do anything.
Eventually, Natasha regained her senses. "What?" she asked bluntly.
Bruce shook his head as he himself processed his own words. "There is no trace of the virus in his system. He's completely healthy."
Leo slowly stood up on shaky legs and made his way over to Bruce. "Are you serious?" he asked, looking down at the screen as Bruce moved out of the way to let him see.
The man nodded, although he also kept staring at the results to make sure his words were actually true and not just his imagination.
Jason rose from his seat and limped across the room to join Leo. After taking in the information on the screen for a moment, he asked what everyone was thinking. "How?"
Bruce shook his head in disbelief. "I... I don't know," he replied, completely confused.
"I really don't have it?" asked Leo, looking to Bruce for confirmation. "It would seem so," confirmed Bruce.
"Oh my gods," muttered Jason, huffing a breath of relief, looking at Leo with pure joy. Leo looked to him and mirrored his expression.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" asked Clint, looking amongst them all.
"I-I think it does," said Bruce, his eyes growing wide as he realised. Jason turned his head to look at them all, and for the first time in a long time, hope was seen in his eyes, flickering inside him once again.
"We can find a cure," he said, near inaudible. "We can find a cure!" he said louder, almost laughing.
The Avengers had smiles appearing on their own faces, trying their best to keep it together as they themselves began to have hope. Let themselves believe that this might not be the end for these kids.
He turned to Leo. "Leo, you're going to save us!" he grinned.
Leo smirked at him. "Twice in one month, baby!" he laughed, though Jason could tell how overjoyed he was by this. He wasn't taking this lightly, and he knew how important this was despite still sticking to his joking attitude.
"Well then," said Bruce, drawing everyone's attention back to him. He looked immensely excited.
"Let's get started."
...
Bruce carefully placed the two samples together: one Leo's blood, the other a sample containing the virus.
He mixed them together then watched, waiting. Much like his and the Avengers own samples though, nothing happened.
The virus didn't combine with the boys blood. He was immune.
"Well?" asked Jason who was leaning over his shoulder in anticipation.
Bruce pulled back from the device and gestured for him to look. "The virus is not contaminating his blood. He is, as we suspected, immune."
Jason stood up straight, grinning, and looked at Leo who was matching his expression.
"Even a deadly virus can't bring down the almighty Super Sized McShizzle," said Leo, miming a hair flip and posing as he spoke.
Jason rolled his eyes but continued to smile. Nothing could annoy him right now, not even Leo's antics. They had the chance to find a cure, the chance to save camp, to save Percy.
"So we can begin trials now?" asked Jason, eager to get started.
"We should able to, yes," replied Bruce, looking at the all the new information he now had whilst taking notes.
"Hang on. Why are you so sure now that his blood will help create a cure?" asked Tony suddenly, tilting his head in thought.
Jason turned to him, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, when we tested negative for the disease and appeared immune, you were immediately sure that our blood couldn't be used to try and develop a cure. Said it wouldn't work? Why were you so sure then that it wouldn't work, and why are you so sure now that it will?" questioned Tony, narrowing his eyes at the boy.
Jason blinked, completely taken off guard by his question, even though it was a valid one.
Of course, he knew the answer to his question. They were mortals with mortal blood, whereas the virus infected the God side of demigod's blood. Since mortals didn't have any God blood or DNA, it would make sense that the plague wouldn't affect them. But he couldn't exactly say that, so what would be a more believable answer...
He glanced at Leo, but he of course didn't know the reasoning for why Jason would be so sure about his blood, since he didn't know who was able to be infected by it, so that meant Jason was on his own.
"Well, as you can probably see, Leo, Percy and I all have a pretty unique blood type," answered Jason slowly, picking his words very carefully. "They were modified and mutated from our powers, making them completely different to yours. That's why I knew your blood wouldn't work, but because Leo's is rather similar to mine, there is definitely a bigger chance that this time, it might work, and we might be able to find a cure."
He attempted to appear nonchalant, but still ended up holding his breath as he watched their reaction and waited for a response, hoping that they believed him.
After a pause, Tony nodded. "I guess that makes sense," he conceived.
Jason quietly released his breath and relaxed. "Great, now can we get started?"
Bruce, who had been more focused on his work but still listening, nodded.
"Yes, lets," he agreed. He then turned to Leo. "If you wouldn't mind, I need a larger blood sample from you so that we have enough to begin test runs."
Leo looked a Jason for confirmation, who nodded in return. Leo turned back to Bruce and slowly walked over to him.
It looked as though a thought suddenly occurred to Bruce, as he seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking.
"Would you mind showing both your arms, palms facing upwards?" he asked, trying to sound casual, though it calm out more suspicious.
Leo frowned, glancing at Jason who shrugged in reply. "I just want to see which would be the best place to draw the blood from," explained Bruce, though that didn't really sound like the truth.
Still, Leo offered both his arms. Jason noticed the rest of the Avengers lean in slightly, as though they too were looking at his arms, or more specifically, his wrists.
Jason frowned, confused at their actions but didn't say anything. After a moment, Bruce then reached over and lifted up the things he needed to take the blood.
"Your left will do," he said, prepping the equipment.
The others appeared to return to their normal positions, but Jason was still confused at what just happened.
Why did they all want to look at his wrists? What did they think would be there-
Jason froze when a thought suddenly occurred to him. The tattoos. They're looking for the tattoos.
But, how could they have known? When they didn't mention them before, Jason had presumed that was something to do with the mist. He still tried to make sure he kept his arms covered, though. Now though, they must have noticed them at some point without Jason realising.
Jason instinctively placed his arms behind his back, regretting his movements immediately as he felt their eyes fall on him, though he avoided their gaze.
Just as it looked like they were about to start questioning him again, Bruce stood up. "Done. Thank you for your co-operation," he told Leo, moving over to the testing facilities.
"Anytime," replied Leo, standing up and stretching.
"Now," said Bruce, grinning, "we can finally get started."
...
Bruce had been going through different vials, chemicals, test tubes and other things for a while now, creating different test samples. One of which would hopefully be a cure.
Leo subtly made his way over Jason, hoping the Avengers wouldn't notice.
"How am I immune?" he asked once beside him. Jason shook his head. "I don't know, man. But thank the Gods you are. We actually have a chance now," he said, looking on the bright side despite having a lack of information.
After a pause, Leo spoke again, now switching to Ancient Greek.
"They're not going to let me leave, are they?" he muttered, watching the group have their own discussion and not seeming to have noticed Leo's movement.
"No," sighed Jason, glancing over at them. "They know you're from camp, so there is definitely no way they're going to let you just walk out, especially after the entrance you made."
"Hey, they started it by firing at us in the sky," argued Leo. "Plus, dramatic entrances are my thing. No one can take that away from me," he added, folding his arms.
Jason gave him a look. "You were flying, right towards the tower, in a metal dragon," he deadpanned.
Leo thought for a moment. "Okay yeah, I can see how that might look," he admitted.
"Anyway," continued Jason, "We need to find a way to get you out of here before they start reinstalling the security measures. It should be easier, what with all the chaos you caused and the buildings power not being fully operational, and the hole in the roof should be a pretty good escape root."
"See? Me causing destruction was a good thing! You should be thanking me, really," said Leo, smirking with pride.
"Yes, it was a real helpful input," said Jason, sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Why thank you," smiled Leo before continuing. "Okay, so we find a way out of here, then-"
"No, not we. You," corrected Jason. Leo frowned and turned his head towards him slightly, trying to keep their conversation out of the knowledge of the superheroes across from them. "What? What are you talking about?"
"You need to get out of here so you can get your blood, and hopefully a cure sample, to camp, where Will should hopefully be able to replicate it. They won't let me go anytime soon, but they have relatively no information or eyes on you, so you'll hopefully be seen as less of a priority. Plus, I have this," he said, raising the bracelet into his line of sight.
Leo looked at it, confused. "What's that?"
"Power dampener. I don't know if it's back on yet, but I don't have the opportunity to test it and check. They don't know that you have powers yet, so you can still use yours to escape," explained Jason.
"But I can still get us both out!" Leo whispered aggressively, momentarily speaking in English in his worry. He glanced at the Avengers to make sure they hadn't heard.
Jason shook his head, grimly. "I'm still sick, man. I'll only slow you down, and with this thing," he said, gesturing to the bracelet, "they could sedate me at any time. I won't get far."
Just as Leo was about to argue further, Jason stopped him. "Leo," he said lowly, "they still have Percy."
Leo froze as he remembered, cursing under his breath in Spanish. "We won't be able to get him out, will we?" he asked, grunting in annoyance.
"Not without great difficulty, and they'd most likely catch us and throw us in there with him," replied Jason, glaring at the Avengers. "Even if we did get him out, he'd most likely attack us, and believe me, Percy is not someone you want to fight," said Jason, seriously, still feeling all the pain as he thought back to their fight.
He sighed. "I've been trying to be compliant in the hopes they would no longer see me as a threat, but I don't know how well it's working."
Leo stayed silent for a moment, thinking. "You said at the start that the reason they wouldn't let me go is because I'm from camp. Do they... know what it is?"
Jason quickly shook his head in reassurance. "No, I've managed to keep that under wraps," he reassured him.
"So then, why would they see it as a threat to let me go?" questioned Leo, brow furrowing.
Jason scratched his head. "I don't really know. Although, they seem to think of me and Percy as some kind of threat, so maybe they think it would be too dangerous to let you go since we know you?" he suggested.
They watched as the group stood beside Bruce as he worked, watching him and sharing thoughts.
"They're good people," said Jason, quietly. "They haven't mistreated us while were here, aside from the kidnapping."
Leo's head whipped towards him. "The what?"
"Oh yeah, I meant to tell you. That's how this whole thing started. There was some incident with Percy involving a monster attack, which led to them investigating him and his permanent record, kidnapping him. Then when I tried to break him out, they got me too," explained Jason, very matter-of-factly. He grinned then. "But hey, apart from all that, things haven't been too bad!"
Leo stared at him, squinting his eyes. "So you fought and got kidnapped by the freaking Avengers?" he clarified.
"Yeah, basically," said Jason, nodding. "Dude, that's so cool!" said Leo, smiling widely.
"Are you really getting starstruck by all this?" asked Jason, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Hey, just cause you don't leave camp and have no life outside of monster attacks doesn't mean I don't have one," said Leo, giving him a look.
"I do too have a life!" complained Jason, shocked. Leo raised an eyebrow at him. "I do! I-I eat, and train, and... and see you guys, and..." he trailed off, grimacing at the realisation.
"Oh my gods," he muttered. "Sorry dude," consoled Leo, patting him on the back. "Try not to think about it. Let's get back to planning how we're gonna get out of here."
Jason, still caught up in his mental crisis, nodded reluctantly. "Fine," he groaned. He rubbed his hand down his face. "Okay, what do we have to work with? How good condition is Festus in?"
Leo grimaced. "Not great. He was pretty banged up after the battle. I was able to patch him up enough to get us here, but I'm not sure how much farther he can make it," he admitted.
Jason thought for a minute. "Do you think you would be able to get him powered up at least? Camp isn't too far away from here, especially when flying on a dragon," he suggested.
"Maybe, yeah," said Leo, nodding, "but I don't know if he has enough energy to get both me and Calypso there. Oh gods, Calypso!" he said, suddenly remembering.
"I need to check on her. I doubt she'll be up for traveling, though," said Leo, grunting as he tried to think of a solution.
A thought suddenly occurred to Jason. "Would Festus be able to hold one person?"
Leo frowned. "Yeah, definitely. Why?"
"Send Calypso ahead to camp on Festus. We can cause a distraction so she can escape, and then you make your way there by taxi or something. That way, you'll both be safe, and you can get to Will so he can start working on a cure as well if our attempts fail," explained Jason, ensuring his voice stayed low.
Leo made a face. He didn't like it. Sending Calypso away and leaving both Percy and Jason behind? It didn't feel right, but Leo didn't know what other option they had. He needed to make sure Calypso was safe, and if that meant staying behind to ensure her safety, so be it. She is going to kill me for this.
Jason wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight right now in his condition if they launched another attack as they made their escape, and Percy was, well, incapacitated right now, so that left him.
He would be fine on his own, for a while at least, and would hopefully have the luck to not run into any monsters on the way. The odds of that were not very good, though, but he could hope.
"Okay," he agreed, finally.
Jason nodded at him, and was just about to speak when Leo interrupted him excitedly.
"Oh! We need a name for the plan," he said, grinning and leaning closer to Jason.
"We do not need a name for the plan," sighed Jason, giving him an exhausted look.
"How about 'Operation Leo saves everyone once again with his super awesome amazingness'?" suggested Leo, ignoring Jason.
"We are not calling it that," said Jason, looking at him with a deadpan expression.
"Oh come on, you didn't even give it a chance!" argued Leo, pouting and folding his arms.
"Fine, fine," agreed Jason, realising he wasn't going to win this battle. "Now we just have to get you out of here so you can find Calypso and get Festus up and running."
Leo smirked. "Why don't I just be my charming self?" he suggested.
Jason groaned. "Please no," he said, letting his head fall back in exasperation, not bothering to keep up in Greek anymore.
Leo grinned. "That sounds like a yes to me," he said, already walking over to the group.
"Oh Gods no," muttered Jason as he watched Leo make his way over to what was sure to be a catastrophe.
...
"Hello there, Avengers!" called Leo as he walked over to them. He could feel Jason cringing behind him.
They all looked over in his direction. "Um, hello?" replied Clint, confused by the sudden enthusiasm.
"So it's true? You really are the Avengers?" asked Leo, excited. They looked between each other, frowning. "Uh, yes?" said Steve.
I mean, most of them were still in uniform, so they thought that would have given them away.
"Awesome! So does that mean you're Iron Man?" he clarified, looking to Tony.
Tony, who enjoyed any opportunity to show off, even a little, grinned, leaning back on the table behind him as he spoke. "Sure am," he said, easily.
Leo widened his eyes. "Your inventions are so cool, man," he told him, smiling widely. "Thanks... man," Tony replied, a little uncertainly on that last word.
"I myself am quite the inventor as well," said Leo, casually but with a smirk. "Oh?" said Tony, amused by him.
"Yeah, although they're probably not on the same level as all of yours," admitted Leo, putting his hands in his pockets. "Ah, well, don't beat yourself up kid. No one is on my level," said Tony, looking smug.
"Oh no, sorry that's not what I meant. I meant that mine are probably far superior to yours," clarified Leo, keeping up a calm façade.
Tony's head whipped towards the boy, shocked. "Excuse me?" he asked, in disbelief.
Leo raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Not your fault man, I'm just probably way better gifted than you are."
Tony's face was priceless. Even the other Avengers were trying their best to hold it together and hide their smiles.
"You think you're better than Tony?" asked Natasha, smirking as she spoke.
"Oh, I know I am, babe," assured Leo, winking at her. Natasha raised her eyebrows in surprise, taken aback by his comment, drawing a laugh out of Clint before she shot him a look and he shut up.
"I mean, I suppose I've never seen your stuff up close, but how different can it actually be in person than what I've heard about them," said Leo, shrugging but smirking ever so slightly.
Tony was stunned, not being able to speak. After a moment though, he stood up from the table and scoffed. "Okay kid, I'll humour you. Come on," he said, gesturing for Leo to follow him as he headed towards the door.
Leo had just started after him when Steve called out. "Tony, where are you going?" he asked, having taken a moment to realise they were both on the move.
"I'm gonna give this kid a reality check. Show him what true genius looks like," he called back, already at the door, waiting for Leo to catch up.
"You can't just take the kid out of here," criticised Natasha, though she did enjoy watching someone challenge Tony and his ego.
"It'll be fine, I'll watch him," he said, brushing it off.
Leo gave a small smile so no one would see. Perfect.
The Avengers probably guessed they weren't going to talk Tony out of it. Plus, they all kinda wanted to see how this went down, and the kid seemed alright so far, seeming more normal than Jason and Percy.
"Alright," Steve finally agreed. "But don't be long, and call us if there's any trouble.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yes, mum," he said sarcastically.
Steve raised an eyebrow at him as he left, but shook his head and turned back to the rest of them.
Leo, as subtly as he could, glanced at Jason as he walked out. He nodded just as the door closed, separating them.
Okay, Operation Leo saves everyone once again with his super awesome amazingness, is a go.