A Game of Gods and Grit (PJO/MCU Crossover)

Chapter Five

"The Hell was that?" Tony backed up towards the wall. Percy was on his knees, staring at where the gas had been a moment before, shocked.

"I-I don't know," he furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. He had swallowed some vomit that had been triggered by the smell of the gas, and the stomach acid made his throat burn. Tony, meanwhile, struggled to his feet, the sudden, sharp sounds of his metal suit clanking and moving making Percy's ears hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know," he repeated.

"Do you want to go back to the quinjet?" At this, Percy shook his head, accepting Tony's hand to help him stand. They searched the rest of the base and, at every corner, Percy would get a chill down his spine. Something was wrong. Then he heard Steve's voice through the comms.

"I don't think this is a HYDRA Base."

"No shit, Sherlock," Tony looked at Percy as if to say is he just figuring that out?

Through the comms, he heard Steve sigh, like he was about to say something but thought better of it. Once Percy and Tony had searched their respective part of the building, they rushed out of there, not wanting to spend another second anywhere near it. They sat in the quinjet together, waiting for the rest of the team to finish up.

"Apart from your dad, do you have any more family?" The billionaire asked, cutting through the silence. Percy raised an eyebrow- he wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve by asking the question.

"That know I'm alive? No," Percy shook his head. "Until I was locked in that cell with Loki, I hadn't had a full conversation with anyone but my dad in... shit, it must've been nearly three years."

"You're kidding." At this, Percy shook his head. "That can't be healthy."

"It's not that bad," he said. "Besides, my old life means nothing to me now. It's best if they think I'm dead."

*

"Perseus-" Poseidon raised both eyebrows in warning.

"Percy," his son corrected hastily, still looking out the window. Atlantis was teeming with life, with people surrounded by other people. Percy felt a strong tinge of jealousy- he had been confined to this room for nearly two months now, and it wasn't exactly doing wonders for his mental state.

"Percy, I understand your urge to find your friends again, I really do," the god took on a sincere, fatherly tone. Percy scoffed.

"What do you know?"

"If they know you're alive, Zeus knows, too," Poseidon argued. "What do you think he'd do if, say, Annabeth kept that sort of information from him? Or worse, if she told him?"

"Don't say her name," he shook his head harshly, tears filling his eyes. "Don't-"

"I am negotiating with the gods as we speak to make Zeus come to his senses," he tried to explain. "In the meantime, there's an underwater volcano a few miles away. If it erupts, a small town with thousands of innocents will be destroyed. If you want, you could stop that from happening, working under an alias. It's not exactly the most interesting task, but it will get you out of the palace for a day or two."

Percy paused, thinking about that. He hated to admit it, but his father was right. The more people who knew about him being alive, the more danger those people were in. Besides, it would be nice to get out for a while... he turned around, sighing.

"Fine."

*

Three years later, that negotiation still hadn't happened. He was still, in the eyes of everyone he used to know and love, dead. But now he'd come to peace with it. At night, sometimes he'd sneak out of his father's palace and into New York, looking through the windows of his old house where he had lived with his mom and Paul. He had a sister now. Estelle- she was a year old. Jason had gone missing the year before and was now presumed dead. The rest of the Seven got on with their lives- it was like Percy had never existed. At first, he'd been sad- maybe even bitter- about that fact but, now, he realised that it was for the best. He was glad they weren't still mourning. Especially Annabeth.