It came together even better than Percy had hoped it would. Matt's priest, Father Lantom, let them set up outside the church the same day they'd scheduled their Easter egg hunt, which gave them a lot of traffic from both the participants and passersby attracted by the commotion. Everything on every table was either blue or had blue frosting, and on one corner of every table, there was a small board explaining the nonprofit they were fundraising for.
Sally was coordinating everyone like she'd been born for it, and Foggy and Karen were working to bring over all of the baked goods; Sally and Percy had spent two whole days working on them, plus the contributions from a few others who'd signed on, many of them people Sally had befriended during other fundraisers.
The really surprising thing, at least for Percy, was that Grover showed up early to help out, setting up tables and signs to direct people toward the bake sale. He fell so naturally into the rhythm of it that Percy got halfway through explaining why Sally had picked the Urban Resource Institute before he realized that he'd never told Grover about the bake sale at all, let alone asked him to come.
Grover laughed. "Silena told me about it," he said, holding the poster against the wall so Percy could tape it up. "And you've always been super supportive of my work in environmentalism and trying to find Pan and all, I figured the least I could do was come help you out with yours."
Percy flushed. "I really do care about the environment," he protested. "It's important."
Grover gave Percy an affectionate look. "I know you do. But it's not your cause, not like this is." He nudged Percy. "That's fine. We've all got that one thing that's just a little more personal."
Percy gave Grover an embarrassed smile, scratching the back of his head before he got back to work. A few more minutes passed quietly while they set up posters, and then Grover spoke again.
"I really didn't know what that guy was doing to you," he said without looking at Percy. "If I had, I would've- I dunno, said something. Tried to help. I was pretty good with feelings, for a kid. I could've figured something out and at least made you feel better."
"I know," Percy assured him. "I could, uh, kind of tell when I finally fessed up."
A pained smile flickered across Grover's face, and he was quiet for another minute. Finally, he laughed.
"I don't know how to ask this," he admitted, pulling away from the poster to go help arrange the baked goods on the tables. "Is this like, something you want your friends to keep in mind, or would you rather we forget about it?"
Percy flashed Grover a grateful smile. Grover was an amazing friend.
"More the first than the second," he admitted, scratching the back of his head self-consciously, with heat rising to his cheeks. "I mean... it's not my whole life or anything, but it's there all the time. I, uh..." His flush deepened. "I don't wanna get too into it if that's all you wanted to know."
Grover nudged him gently. "I'm listening."
Percy smiled at him, affectionate and relieved.
"You don't forget growing up like that," Percy said, quiet enough that he didn't think anyone would overhear. "I mean... it's been almost two years, and I still think about Gabe way more than I want to. Every time I smell beer, or someone raises their voice, I'm eight years old again." He shrugged, cheeks still hot. "I'm not broken, that's not what I mean, but..." He clicked his tongue, frustrated, but Grover was still listening patiently. "I spook easy, and not in a fun way. That's all."
"I hear you," Grover said, soft and reassuring. He gave Percy a grin. "You want people to listen when you say stop, right?"
Percy blinked. He hadn't thought of it that way. "I- yeah. I get that it's fun to mess with me, but sometimes it just... I don't know, it hits wrong." He hesitated, then added, "You've seen it. When I, uh, when I hide in my cabin or the lake."
Grover winced. "Yeah, I know the mood." He bumped Percy. "Maybe some of 'em will take me seriously now when I say they're going too far."
Percy softened, giving him a small grin. "Yeah, maybe." He tilted his head toward the church. "Do you think the gods would still get an offering if I burned it in a church fireplace?"
It took Grover a moment to adjust to the change in topic, but then he nodded. "Definitely. What for?"
Percy picked up a blue cookie, weighed it in his hand, and said, "It can't hurt to catch Aphrodite's attention for this. At least, I don't think she'll mind."
Almost as soon as he'd tossed it into the fire, he knew he'd made a good call. For a few seconds, all he could smell was the blessed scent of the offering, and then a gentle optimism settled over the area. Percy knew without looking at Grover that it was the blessing of Aphrodite.
"Excuse me, child, but I hope you had permission for that."
Percy started and looked up. An old man in white robes was moving toward them, a faintly bemused smile on his face.
"Mom won't mind," Percy said after a moment. "It's a sacrifice for like, good luck. It's a pagan thing. Um." Percy looked at the white robes, then up at Jesus on the cross, and then smiled at Father Lantom sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I should have asked."
Father Lantom chuckled. "Worry not, I do not mind. The Lord sees your devotion even if it is not to him. And as it happens – you are Sally Jackson's son, are you not? She must have anticipated this; she actually asked me if I would mind such practices when we made arrangements."
"Cool," Percy said, relieved. "Yeah, it's a tribute to Aphrodite, this is kind of her business. Um, I can do one for God too if you want."
Grover muffled a snort, and Father Lantom laughed outright. "I see you are as sweet a child as Matthew assured me. No, thank you, but I appreciate the sentiment immensely. I will offer my prayers for the success of your endeavors."
With a nod, he turned away and left, presumably to go handle the Easter egg hunt.
"Would you have seriously burnt an offering for Yahweh?" Grover asked, amused.
"Is that his name?" Percy mused. "But yeah, I figure it can't hurt. If he is around, I did kind of just burn an offering to a different god in his temple. That's pretty rude. Can you imagine if I went into Apollo's temple and burnt an offering to Hephaestus?"
"Point," Grover chuckled. "Alright, let's go sell some cookies."
The second surprise came when nearly a dozen campers arrived, only about half an hour late, sauntering up the street like they did it every day. Grover grinned at Percy's expression.
"Word got around fast," Grover said, oddly smug. "Turns out the issue of shitty parents is pretty important to a lot of demigods. Who would have guessed?"
Grover's teasing tone indicated that he'd definitely guessed.
"Hi, Mrs. Jackson," Silena said brightly, smiling at Sally's startled look. "Sorry we're late, it took us a while to get going and then we got lost. Is there anything we can do to help?"
"I'm just looking for a fight," Clarisse cut in, crossing her arms. "This many demigods in one place, I bet we're gonna see some monsters, and I'm bored."
"Thank you very much," Sally said warmly, making Clarisse turn pink. "Would you mind partnering up with someone and taking some flyers with you? It can't hurt to draw attention over here, if it's not any trouble."
"Uh, sure," Clarisse mumbled. "Silena?"
"Of course," Silena beamed, accepting the stack Sally gave her before they both returned down the road.
"Connor and I can do that too, if you want someone going the other way," Travis offered, and grinned when Sally thanked him and handed over another small sheaf.
Sally spent the next few minutes assigning tasks: a couple children of Apollo promised to help keep the area clean, a son of Aphrodite agreed to talk to people idling nearby, two of Annabeth's cabinmates were asked to keep track of inventory, and Annabeth herself joined Percy and Grover at one of the sales tables.
Percy thought Annabeth was going to complain about him not mentioning it, but she just elbowed him and smiled, and he elbowed her back, pleased.
"Is that Foggy?" she asked instead, nodding to Foggy, sitting with Sally re-reading a flyer to pass the time. Percy nodded.
"He's not so bad," Percy said. "It's starting to seem like I really did just catch him at a bad time."
"That would be just your luck, Seaweed Brain."
Percy snorted, not disagreeing, and then paused as someone came up to the table. He pointed out the different baked goods first, and then explained the Urban Research Institute. They bought a half-dozen blue cookies, and Annabeth counted out the change and handed it back.
"Tell me what you've been up to," Annabeth instructed him. "Chiron said the Avengers have been contacting you, and I want to hear about it."
"Go on," Steve said, nudging Thalia to go through first. "She's excited to meet you."
Thalia only hesitated for a second before going into the hospital room, and Steve gestured for Percy to go right after, which he did.
Peggy Carter was a really old woman, with beautiful silver hair and an age-lined face, and a clean, light blue blouse set with little frills and rhinestones. Without thinking, Thalia settled on one side of the bed, and Percy on the other, while Steve sat on a chair a few feet back. Percy couldn't stop looking at the liver spots on Peggy's hands. She was really old.
Peggy met Thalia's eyes and smiled at her. "Oh, I'd know you for Zeus' daughter in a heartbeat," she said warmly, her voice steadier than Percy had expected. "For you, dear, I think it's all in the eyes. But it looks to me like your true allegiance lies elsewhere." She glanced meaningfully at Thalia's hair.
Thalia let out a surprisingly wet laugh.
"I'm Lady Artemis' lieutenant, Mrs. Carter," she said. "Name's Thalia."
"Thalia is a wonderful name," Peggy said, seemingly with all sincerity. "And Artemis is a worthy recipient of your loyalty – in my youth I considered becoming a Huntress as well, though in the end I decided that such wandering was not for me." She turned her head, making Percy start slightly. "And you, young one? Why, I could almost take you for Poseidon himself."
A smile flashed across Percy's face. "Percy Jackson. I've never seen an old demigod before."
"Oh my gods, Percy," Thalia complained, but Peggy chuckled.
"It's not as rare as you might think," she promised, reaching over to rest her hand on Percy's. "As they grow into adulthood, most demigods tire of serving the gods and grow into ambitions of their own. They no longer spend summers at camp – why, I haven't even visited in over a decade. But wherever they might be, I assure you that they are living dangerous and extraordinary lives."
"Oh," he said softly. "I guess that makes more sense. Are there a lot?"
"One dozen, two dozen," Peggy mused. "It is difficult to say for certain – survival, of course, becomes more difficult to ascertain when they are no longer attending camp. Is it not enough to know that it is possible?"
Percy smiled. "Yeah. I'm gonna tell my mom. She'll be really happy."
"Was it hard to go from living at camp to being out of it all the time?" Thalia asked.
"Oh, certainly," Peggy agreed readily. "It's one thing to face monsters during a quest, and quite another to attempt to quietly deal with them during basic training-"
Peggy was more than happy to talk to both of them for more than an hour, talking about the days when she'd had a few siblings, and the daughter of Poseidon she had been close to. She told them funny stories about dealing with monsters while also holding a job, and the few demigod friends she'd had who had been with her until only a couple of decades previous. It was kind of amazing; Peggy was kind of amazing.
"My only regret," Peggy said after a while, "is that I will not live to see the conclusion of the Great Prophecy." She reached up to tuck some of Percy's hair out of his eyes, and Percy surprised himself by not pulling away. "It's going to fall to you, isn't it?"
Percy's throat tightened, and he nodded. Peggy smiled.
"I'm glad," she said. "You remind me of Steve. He had the same look in his eye, even before he was given the serum."
"I'm not good enough," Percy blurted out, before he could think better of it. "You know that, right? I'm gonna mess something up." He swallowed, one fist clenching in the blankets. "I mean, I'll try. But..."
He fell silent as Peggy pried his hand off the covers with surprising strength, only to clasp his hand in hers, forcing it to unclench. "But nothing. Chiron has told me about you, you know. He's so terribly proud of you already." She paused. "Thalia. Do you have something to say?"
Thalia jumped, looking guilty, and then cast Percy a fleeting glance.
"I didn't realize it was going to bother you so much," she mumbled, crossing her arms. "I... sorry. I just, really needed that off my shoulders."
"It's okay," Percy said without hesitation, heavy but certain. "I get it."
"Thalia?" Peggy prompted softly, looking expectantly at her younger sister. Thalia looked away.
"I joined the Hunters to keep myself from ever turning sixteen," she confessed tightly, looking both defensive and unhappy. "It- that was probably the cowardly thing to do, wasn't it?" She gave Peggy an intense, heartbreakingly desperate look. "But I knew I couldn't do it. I was gonna break. I couldn't let it be me."
"Hestia likes to say," Peggy said, reaching up to squeeze Thalia's hand, "that it takes more strength to yield than to fight. It was wise of you to commit to your path." Thalia relaxed, looking comforted, and Peggy turned her gaze on Percy. "Chiron visits me, you know, every few months. He's spoken about you, and he has been nothing but proud. He has faith in your strength."
A lump grew in Percy's throat, but it was a good one, for once. Chiron had told Percy that he was proud of him before, but he never would have thought Chiron liked him enough to talk about him to others. To someone like Peggy Carter.
Peggy flicked him on the nose, and he went briefly cross-eyed watching before grinning sheepishly at her. She smiled back.
"So you'd best find some faith in yourself soon, boy," she teased. "You wouldn't question Chiron's judgement, would you?"
Percy decided he loved Peggy Carter.
At the end of an hour and a half, Peggy was clearly wearing out, nearly falling asleep even as she spoke, and they quietly said their goodbyes and took their leave.
"Thanks for taking the time to visit," Steve said to them, while they were leaving. He was smiling, though not without a hint of pain. "I think that was the best day she's had in a while."
"She's amazing," Thalia said quietly, most of her mind clearly still back in the hospital room. "I can't believe I got to meet her."
"She always has been," Steve said warmly.
"Hey, it's late," Percy said into the phone, leaning against the counter with a frown. It was rare for the Jacksons to get a call, and weirder for them to get one at four in the morning. If Percy hadn't already been awake avoiding nightmares, he wasn't even sure he or Sally would have woken up for it.
"Percy, thank God," Foggy said, sounding out-of-breath and stressed out of his mind. "Demigod food would heal Matt, right? Even if he's badly hurt?"
Percy's dozing mind woke up instantly. "Yeah, I can grab some, where are you? How bad is it?"
"Not great. I mean, he's not in danger or anything, but he can't hear and he's freaking out. Some healing magic would be really, really good right now."
"I'm on my way, what's the address?"
Foggy gave him the address and Percy scribbled it down, scowling at his shitty handwriting, then ripped the page out of the notebook. Sally knew not to worry if she woke up and Percy was gone, so he didn't leave a note – Foggy could call her again at a more reasonable hour. Instead, he grabbed the flask of nectar out of the medicine cabinet and headed out the door, hailed a cab, and gave the driver the address.
He was there inside of twenty minutes, and he tapped the doorbell to the apartment number he'd been given. One of them buzzed him up without checking in, and he darted inside and up the stairs. The door was unlocked.
"Foggy?" Percy called out, nudging the door shut behind him. He found the three adults in the living room before any of them called back, Foggy with one hand on Matt's back, rubbing it as if to calm him while Matt jerked and looked around wildly as if to dispel the darkness. The woman looked up and frowned at Percy.
"Foggy says you've got healing magic," was all she said, beckoning him over. "We could use some of that right about now."
"Yeah, I heard," he agreed, distracted as he moved toward them. Matt was wearing a skintight black undershirt, and as Percy followed the lines of his body, he found that he'd been only half-stripped of whatever he'd been wearing over it. It wasn't until Percy saw the helmet that he realized what it was. "Oh, shit."
Daredevil. Matt was Daredevil. That explained... so much, actually. The mystery bruises, the fighting skill, his odd cocky confidence in combat. Percy wondered vaguely who his godly parent was. Was there a god of vigilante superheroes?
Foggy winced. "Matt's gonna kill me," he muttered.
"Yeah, well, he can kill you once he stops bleeding from his ears," Percy said, shaking himself out of his trance to sit carefully beside Matt. Matt jumped a mile, whipping around, and Foggy grabbed his hand and squeezed it. It reminded Percy a little of himself and Grover.
Percy grabbed the flask from under his arm and unscrewed the cap.
"I thought you were bringing that blondie thing," Foggy said anxiously. Percy shrugged.
"I mean, I could've," he agreed, holding the flask up near Matt's face, close enough for him to smell. Like if windchimes had a scent, he'd said. "But this is nectar, the liquid form. It's easier when you're really out of it."
Matt hesitated, then grabbed the container, tipped it back and forth for a second, and then placed it unerringly to his mouth and drank. Percy hissed and grabbed the end, tugging it down so it wasn't pouring so fast into Matt's mouth.
"What's wrong?" Foggy asked. Percy could hear the tightness in his voice that usually came with panicked snapping, which meant that Foggy was probably softening it for his sake. Percy's shoulders loosened.
"Matt's the son of a minor goddess," he explained, letting it go when it became clear Matt wasn't resisting. "I don't know how much nectar he can safely drink. And even I wouldn't drink it that fast."
"But he can still drink enough to heal?" Foggy asked anxiously.
Percy smiled, watching Matt relax all at once. "Ask him."
Foggy jumped and turned toward him. "Matt? Can you hear me, buddy?"
Matt set the flask on his lap, reached up, and rubbed his head with a soft groan. "Foggy," he mumbled, "did you just out me to your girlfriend's son because I got a booboo?"
"You were panicking," Foggy said defensively, and Matt softened.
"I don't understand anything that's going on," the woman announced. "Who is this? Why are we discussing gods? Since when is Matt the son of a god?"
Percy turned a questioning look on Foggy, who winced.
"Percy, this is Claire," Foggy introduced, sitting back now that the crisis seemed over. "She patches Matt up after his... vigilante stuff. Claire, this is Percy, he's the living proof that my current girlfriend is way out of my league."
Percy snorted, then started laughing, weight he hadn't noticed falling away as he snickered. "That's the smartest thing you've ever said," he chortled, and then, to Claire, "Hi, I'm a demigod – Foggy's dating my mom. I'm not involved with the Daredevil stuff though, I'm only here because I keep ambrosia and nectar on hand."
Claire sighed. "You know what? That tallies with everything else that's happened in the last few years." She looked at Matt. "Matt, can I trust you to tell me if you're injured anywhere else?"
"Ah... the gash on my leg is still bad enough to need stitches, and I don't want to take up any more of this." He lifted the flask. "I've heard Percy use it more often than I'm comfortable with."
The nice thing to do would be insist Matt take as much as he needed, but honestly, Percy was a little relieved. The monsters were only getting more tenacious with every year that passed; he needed all the help he could get. "I'll make sure to get you some of your own the next time I'm at camp. What's wrong?"
Matt was tense, even if he was pretending not to be. "What are you going to do now that you know?" He indicated the piled-up Daredevil suit.
Percy blinked at him, confused. "Uh, am I supposed to do something?"
Sure, it was a little weird that Matt was Daredevil. Percy had never been friends with a vigilante before. On the other hand, it wasn't like he and his friends didn't already spend a ton of time fighting their own enemies on the sly.
Also? Not his problem.
"...I kind of assumed you would do something," Matt admitted. Percy shrugged.
"It's your business," he said. "No offense, Matt, but I've got way bigger things to worry about than the fact that you're running around in costume beating up muggers. I saw you at camp, you can fight just fine."
Matt laughed, loosening up. He looked oddly relieved. "Yeah, I suppose you do."
"I don't want to know," Claire announced, leaning over to tug Matt's suit the rest of the way off and start working on his leg. Matt hissed. "So, Matt is the son of a god? Which one?"
"Don't know, probably won't find out," Percy said. "Gods aren't great at claiming their kids."
"Are there a lot of demigods out there?" Claire asked without looking up, frowning. "I thought they'd have come out, you know, with everything else."
"There's a few dozen of us, we just kinda keep to ourselves," Percy explained. Claire made a face. "I know, right? I think god seed is immune to birth control."
"If I sleep with a goddess, I'm using a condom," Foggy said instantly, looking green. Percy scowled at him, but it was almost playful this time.
"You better be talking about my mom," he said pointedly.
"...I'm not sure there's a correct response to that," Foggy admitted, and Percy laughed.
"So demigods didn't come out because they clean up their own messes?" Claire asked.
Percy snorted, scornful and harsh. "Ha. Gods make messes, and demigods clean them up." Thunder rolled and cracked violently. "I'm not taking it back."
"Are they listening?" Claire asked, actually pausing to glance up with alarm. Percy grunted.
"I think they only notice key words," he said. "You only get the fun color commentary if you're blatantly disrespectful." He jerked his thumb at the window. "Anyway, yeah. The Greek world's had a few near misses the last couple of years, but we took care of it before they got big enough for mortals to notice."
"And why didn't you tell me?" Claire asked Matt. Matt shrugged sheepishly.
"I didn't know until this one came along," he said, nodding at Percy. "The celestial bronze cane works perfectly, by the way. I owe Beckendorf for this."
There was genuine gratitude under the faux-casual lightness, and Percy smiled. Apparently he was forgiven for barging in and finding out Matt's secret identity.
"He accepts thank-yous in the form of canned Coke," Percy informed him.