Waves (Percy Jackson & DC Crossover)

From Villain to Hero

Percy's POV

It had already been several days since Percy had been injured and his wound was pretty much gone. Nevertheless, Harley and Ivy made him stay in bed and hovered around him as if he was they were a hen and he, their sick little chickling.

At first, Percy really enjoyed it. It had been years since he'd been cared for and pampered like this, but after the second day, his ADHD kicked in causing him to be restless.

He sat on his bed with a bored expression and mindlessly played with Riptide in pen form. Harley had just left to get him another blanket which he'd decided he'll have to stuff under the bed with the last five Ivy gave him.

Are they secretly trying to suffocate me in blankets? Percy pondered seriously. Before he could decide if they were or not, a heavy knock came from his door frame.

"Come on in, Slade," Percy called.

The door swung open revealing the assassin all decked out in his black and orange combat suit. "Was it the heaviness of the knock that gave me away?"

Percy smirked slightly. "No, it was the knock itself. Ivy and Harley just come and go as if they own the place."

Slade nodded before motioning for the younger man to get off the bed. "Come on, get your suit on. I think you could use some fresh air."

Excitement radiated off Percy as he quickly got ready. "Fresh air? Seems more like a mission to me."

"It appears as if someone has taken over several of the local mafia. I thought it might be fun if the two of us got a closer look..." Slade paused for a moment before teasingly asking, "Unless, of course, you'd like to stay here and let the girls drowned you in blankets?"

"Oh, heck no." Percy said pulling his mask on. "Lets go."

The two of them left the room without Harley or Ivy seeing them and made their way down a long hallway.

Thank goodness for stairs. Percy thought as they both ignored the elevator and started climbing up the many levels of stone steps. It made him really happy that, not only did the team pick up on his intense fear of elevators, but they would also always choose to take the stairs when he was with them.

When they got to the top, Slade made his way over to the motorcycles. "Do you know how to drive on of these?"

Percy shook his head. "Not really, I manged to once a few years back during an emergency of sorts. I saw my cousin rid... A little bit before he tried to kill me."

Slade gave him a weird look before hesitantly saying, "Hop on, I'll show you how it's done."

It took a while for Percy to get the hang of it, longer than he'd like to admit. Slade was actually a really good teacher. He remained patient as Percy struggled to get the bike going and didn't completely freak out when Percy almost run into one of the tanks Slade kept in the warehouse.

When he did finally get the hang of it, the two of them rode out into the city with the sun setting behind them. Percy followed Slade through a more rundown sector until they pulled off into an alleyway and parked their motorcycles. By now, the sun had fully set and the streets were illuminated by neon lights.

"This way," Slade said silently using a fire escape to climb to the rooftops. Percy watched Slade blend into the shadows and followed suit to the best of his abilities, but he wasn't use to sneaking around. His life as a demigod usually consisted of a lot of explosions and monster fights. He'd always had the Mist in his dimension to hide the chaos he'd eventually cause.

Slade finally stopped and gestured to what looked like just another old store across the street.

"This store is run by an organization called the Hammer. They use it as their main front for shipping illegal weapons and drugs." Slade said in a hushed voice. "Its the largest mafia in the city that hasn't been dissolved by the Justice League just yet. If my sources are right, we may see some action here tonight. So, let's just keep an eye on it for now, shall we?"

Percy nodded and found a comfortable place to sit and keep watch. After several days of being cooped up in a small room, the night breeze felt cool and refreshing against his skin. He glanced up trying to make out the stars. He didn't like how different they looked in this world. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find Zoë's constellation and it troubled him.

"You seem to have a lot of really useful sources. That also how you found out where Dollmaker and Scarecrow were going to be, right?" Percy whispered trying to distract himself.

"I have a lot of friends and connections in the crime world... I use to be what you might call one of the bad guys. Same with Harley and Ivy. We did a lot of stuff we've not really proud of."

"Why?" Percy asked. He knew this was a sensitive subject for Slade, but it seemed like the older man was willing to tell him.

"Hm... Both Harley and I were mislead and manipulated by people around us. I use to work with a group called the League of Assassins. It was the only family I had at the time. I wanted to rise through the ranks and impress their leader too the point that I was willing to do anything." Slade said slowly as he kept an eye on the building across the street.

"Harley used to love a pretty well known supervillain. He used her for a long time before she realized it was all fake. Ivy used to think all of the humans were killing the earth. She fought against humanity for a long time, until eventually realizing that innocent civilians usually cared for nature and it was the supervillains and crime bosses that didn't give a shit about it." Slade said softly.

Percy stayed quiet, just listening and absorbing their hardships and transformations. It reminded him a lot like his own past.

How many times have we saved the gods only to be forgotten and abandoned by them? Percy asked himself.

Slade shifted slightly. "We were all lost once we found the truth, but one by one we found each other. We made the Hero Syndicate and dedicated ourselves to helping the world with the skills we ended up having. I still have some connections to the crime world, so I use them from time to time."

Percy couldn't help smiling. "Time to time? It seems like you use them quite a lot. You sure your not getting lazy or perhaps rusty?"

Slade chucked. "Maybe I am. I'm getting to old to be running around on building tops."

A new voice instantly caught their attention as it spoke. "You may be past your prime, but your fighting skills only ever seem to increase."

Behind them stood a woman dressed in red and black, her long black hair catching in the wind, and a tiger standing on two legs.

"What is Hades name is that?" Percy asked upon seeing the tiger, but that was all he could say as the two opponents attacked.